Hello,
Behind our two-family house is the air-to-water heat pump. Our new neighbors (three-family house) are very nice. The neighbors living on the ground floor are experiencing their first winter in the new building and hear the air-to-water heat pump running at full capacity.
They find it quite loud, especially in the evening when it operates at subzero temperatures (understandable since the house is being heated).
The heating engineer said that the air-to-water heat pump can be "turned down" during the evening or night hours to reduce noise, but he advises against this because
1 - The house cools down
2 - The air-to-water heat pump risks icing up since the heating elements are also turned down
What do you think about this? Are there any acceptable decibel levels?
Behind our two-family house is the air-to-water heat pump. Our new neighbors (three-family house) are very nice. The neighbors living on the ground floor are experiencing their first winter in the new building and hear the air-to-water heat pump running at full capacity.
They find it quite loud, especially in the evening when it operates at subzero temperatures (understandable since the house is being heated).
The heating engineer said that the air-to-water heat pump can be "turned down" during the evening or night hours to reduce noise, but he advises against this because
1 - The house cools down
2 - The air-to-water heat pump risks icing up since the heating elements are also turned down
What do you think about this? Are there any acceptable decibel levels?
Grym schrieb:
Just google heat pump and noise calculator and share your findings with usWithout being able to check the calculations behind this:
They themselves conclude that with a classic split system, you need at least 12 m (40 feet) of distance to stay below 35 dB(A).
And 12 m (40 feet) distance to the nearest neighbor is often not possible in many residential areas. The only answer in that case is: heating completely off!
I'm just glad our neighbors either have gas heating or geothermal heat pumps...
Best regards,
Andreas
H
HilfeHilfe20 Jan 2017 13:17At night, the noise level is about 48 dB, I’ve already measured it discreetly with an app... It’s only like this in winter, in summer it hardly runs (understandably).
How is "at night" defined? Until 6 a.m.?
How is "at night" defined? Until 6 a.m.?
First of all, almost never are purely residential zones designated; usually, general residential areas are designated. Therefore, noise limits are 40 dB at night and 55 dB during the day.
Secondly, for example, with a Rotex hpsu compact with 8 kW, I can meet the TA Lärm requirements already from a distance of 2 meters (6.5 feet)? And that unit is nothing special, right?
Thirdly: The app is not accurate? And where were the 48 dB measured? What distance?
Secondly, for example, with a Rotex hpsu compact with 8 kW, I can meet the TA Lärm requirements already from a distance of 2 meters (6.5 feet)? And that unit is nothing special, right?
Thirdly: The app is not accurate? And where were the 48 dB measured? What distance?
Usually, the night period is considered to be from 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM.
Measuring with an app can provide an initial indication but doesn’t give a reliable result. There is usually a lack of proper calibration and correction for background noise.
Noise measurements are quite tricky and often lead to discussions, even in our industrial projects.
Where exactly did you measure? At a distance of 1 meter (3 feet) from the device (in that case, 48 dB(A) would be too loud for my taste but still within legal limits) or on the neighbor’s terrace (then you would need to turn the system off immediately)?
Best regards,
Andreas
Measuring with an app can provide an initial indication but doesn’t give a reliable result. There is usually a lack of proper calibration and correction for background noise.
Noise measurements are quite tricky and often lead to discussions, even in our industrial projects.
Where exactly did you measure? At a distance of 1 meter (3 feet) from the device (in that case, 48 dB(A) would be too loud for my taste but still within legal limits) or on the neighbor’s terrace (then you would need to turn the system off immediately)?
Best regards,
Andreas
H
HilfeHilfe20 Jan 2017 13:49That's right... there is background noise... a highway nearby...
1 meter (3 feet) FROM the neighbor's house to ours
1 meter (3 feet) FROM the neighbor's house to ours
Hi,
we live in a purely residential area. I chose a split system from Alpha Innotec. There are tons of them around here.
Sound power level during daytime operation is a whopping 65 dB(A), and not much better at night with 61 dB(A)!!!!
Even at 12 m (39 feet) distance, you still have 35 dB(A). To possibly be able to sleep with an open window, your hearing would have to be pretty damaged!
By the way: how is it actually ensured that the unit doesn’t run in daytime mode at night? If it doesn’t have a tamper-proof control system to prevent this, you should also apply the daytime noise level for nighttime. That makes it look even worse, as then you’re beyond 30 m (98 feet)!
Oops, just noticed that the curves on the website are unfortunately manipulated, the noise levels are shifted!!!!
The system mentioned above has 65 dB(A) in daytime mode, and the noise curve for daytime correctly starts at 65. In night mode, the system has 61 dB(A), but surprisingly the noise curve doesn’t start at 61, but at 56 dB(A). What a coincidence...
So, correction: to meet around 35 dB(A) at night, you need about 22 m (72 feet) distance from this system. Even for 40 dB(A), you still need 12–14 m (39–46 feet). You definitely need a large plot!
Best regards,
Andreas
we live in a purely residential area. I chose a split system from Alpha Innotec. There are tons of them around here.
Sound power level during daytime operation is a whopping 65 dB(A), and not much better at night with 61 dB(A)!!!!
Even at 12 m (39 feet) distance, you still have 35 dB(A). To possibly be able to sleep with an open window, your hearing would have to be pretty damaged!
By the way: how is it actually ensured that the unit doesn’t run in daytime mode at night? If it doesn’t have a tamper-proof control system to prevent this, you should also apply the daytime noise level for nighttime. That makes it look even worse, as then you’re beyond 30 m (98 feet)!
Oops, just noticed that the curves on the website are unfortunately manipulated, the noise levels are shifted!!!!
The system mentioned above has 65 dB(A) in daytime mode, and the noise curve for daytime correctly starts at 65. In night mode, the system has 61 dB(A), but surprisingly the noise curve doesn’t start at 61, but at 56 dB(A). What a coincidence...
So, correction: to meet around 35 dB(A) at night, you need about 22 m (72 feet) distance from this system. Even for 40 dB(A), you still need 12–14 m (39–46 feet). You definitely need a large plot!
Best regards,
Andreas