ᐅ Location of Air-to-Water Heat Pump for a Semi-Detached House – Is It Too Close to the Neighbor?

Hello everyone,

We are considering using an air-to-water heat pump for heating in our semi-detached house. However, I’m concerned that the noise from the heat pump at our preferred installation location (Option 1) might disturb our neighbor (the other half of the semi-detached house). Of course, we want to avoid that.

Does anyone have experience with how this is handled, for example, in terraced housing estates? Is my concern about the noise justified?

Am I even allowed to install a heat pump when my neighbor’s house is directly next to mine?

Here is the plan of our ground floor with the two possible installation locations:

I was also thinking that the pump could alternatively be installed on the gable side, but that would mean losing some space. The neighbor is much further away there. However, the pump would then be in the garden, so we would need to be careful with the carport planning.

Alternatively, I would consider an indoor installation (if feasible, as this would only be possible in the basement, and I’m not sure if we can get air ducts to the outside somehow. Maybe someone knows how this can be done).

Thank you very much for your help!

In the thread by @goalkeeper, the topic was whether an outdoor unit creates a setback area.

Talk to your neighbor; maybe they also have one, and alternative 1 could be an option.

Option 1 should not be a problem at all – almost all outdoor units for semi-detached houses are placed there, at least in our new housing developments. You could also consider placing them on the carport roof. Of course, this depends on the material the carport is made of.

Great, thanks so much already. I need to check how large the outdoor unit of the pump would have to be for our 144 m² (1550 sq ft). At option 1, I only have 160 cm (63 inches) of width. That should be enough, right?

Does anyone know if I can also install it indoors? I wanted to use the basement window here. The opening would be 100 x 50 cm (39 x 20 inches). The light well in front of it is 100 cm (39 inches) wide, 100 cm (39 inches) high, and 40 cm (16 inches) deep. Would that work, or would I definitely need to make an opening? Thanks a lot!

Two refrigerant lines connect the outdoor and indoor units, and for this, a penetration must be made from the inside to the outside,
in our case (no basement) through the floor slab.

How does your neighbor heat their home? Also with a heat pump?