A new report has highlighted that many air source heat pumps, with their constant outdoor hum, exceed noise limits for installation, despite the Government announcing it wants to install 600,000 a year by 2028. The Mail has the story.
Homeowners who have installed costly heat pumps at the behest of the Government or who have found themselves living in the vicinity of them due to their neighbours have complained that the noisy contraptions are making their lives hell.
It comes after a report warned the pumps are too loud to be installed in millions of homes under the Government’s own noise guidelines.
Heat pumps can produce a low constant hum of between 40 to 60 decibels (similar to the noise made by the average fridge or dishwasher) and typically run for long periods of the winter.
The effect of this noise pollution has led residents to complain of restless nights and permanently droning urban environments which some have compared to the sound of a “jet engine taking off”.
This week, a new report found that most air source heat pumps are too loud for properties in built up areas as the constant hum of the outdoor units would violate noise limits set for those who wish to install one without planning permission and with a Government grant.
In order to qualify for the Government grant, any installations of heat pumps must meet noise regulations set out by the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) which state they should not generate a noise louder than 42 decibels within one metre of a neighbour’s door or window.
But the new report, which was compiled by experts from the consultancies Apex Acoustics, Sustainable Acoustics and ANV Measurement Systems, found that none of the top heat pumps from the five main manufacturers would meet MCS standard unless they were four metres away.
It stated: “Without the MCS there is no BUS grant and, therefore, a likely significant reduction in uptake of [heat pumps] across England and Wales.’”
Despite these concerns, as part of their commitment to Net Zero, the Government has announced it wants to install 600,000 heat pumps a year by 2028.
In order to help meet this target, last month they announced new grants of up to £7,500 for homeowners swapping their gas or oil-powered boilers for heat pumps.
And for those people living next to the ‘noisy’ contraptions, the change to their daily lives has been seismic.
In Reepham, Norfolk, local campaigner Mark Bridges has been waging a one-man war against a local high school after they installed two enormous heat pumps in their science block.
Reepham High School’s installation of the two outdoor pumps has been controversial for residents – with Mark alleging that he and his neighbours can hear them droning “from 50 meters away”.
Speaking to MailOnline, he said: “They don’t actually produce enough heat to match the heating level previously enjoyed in that building and they’re very, very noisy.
“It’s a fan noise like the one you get on an extractor fan in in the kitchen but much more disruptive.
“They’ve put some noise mitigation measures in place but I’m an engineer with experience in noise mitigation and I can see it’s their cheapest option that won’t satisfy regulations to be compliant for the planning permission to be upheld.
“It sounds horrendous. A frost cycle compressor comes on at anytime in cold weather. This and the fan noise wakes us neighbours.
“You would not sanction this outside your own home, so why do we neighbours have to put up with this? It’s just unacceptable at every level.”
Worth reading in full.
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What pebble/flint wall would not be improved with a couple of heat exchangers in front of it? Lovely!
Hilarious.
And there choc full of expensive copper matrix piping! Worth a small fortune at the scrapper, not that anyone would steal them!
Well, that’s recycling covered then.
It’ll be fun for new build cul-de-sacs residents when there are 8 or so houses all facing each other with their blowers going 24/7.
The owner of a semi-detached house in a road near me, in Kew, south-west London, has just installed a large one of these in the small front garden. Watch out for more of this!
On the other hand, the noise our woodburner makes is lovely. Our friends and neighbours often remark upon it when they visit.
It’s so cosy, with all the crackling and popping.
Oh, and it makes the house warm, unlike the boondoggles mentioned above.
And no horrible bills in the post, either!
And you’re using renewable energy, to use the modern slogan. More efficient than Drax power station, quite likely.
So, if they’re too noisy within 1 metre of a neighbour’s door or window they’re going to be fine nearer to your own? If most people wouldn’t do it to their neighbour they won’t do it to themselves,
For the eco-cult, no hardship is too much. These are the people who think taking five hours for a 2h journey is brilliant because their EV is saving the planet, one cobalt child-miner at a time.
wink
For many situations it is clearly the case that if you do away with oil/gas boilers, the eco alternatives do not work on the basis of each property having its own source of heat. There have been some pioneering work on district heating schemes with one going ahead at Swaffham Priors;
https://tp-heatnetworks.org/trailblazer-swaffham-prior-becomes-first-uk-village-to-retrofit-a-renewable-heating-network-into-an-existing-community/
And so yes you can have a replacement for oil[gas boilers but the answer for many is not a simple case of swapping a boiler for a heat pump. District heating schemes do work in various parts of the world but they are not a simple 5 minute fix. They are technically, financially and administratively complex. It will take longer than 2050 to bring in significant district heating schemes across the UK.
And while it may be viable for brand new developments, it might not be practical for most housing areas. There are loads of existing utility pipes and cables buried underground already. Installing a whole load more hot water ones would be fun.
As far as I can ascertain, the smallest heat pumps use 4 kw an hour, and their efficiency depends on longevity,(and outside temperature)don’t turn them on and off, leave them running, Reepham as an example!
The direction of travel for our prosperity, well being and life expectancy is all downhill. —–Welcome to the 21st century where capitalism and standard of living is to be REVERSED.———- All allegedly for the “children and grandchildren” and “saving the planet”. ———Do the children and grandchildren want to be the first generations to be less well of than their parents since the Industrial Revolution that brought us out of the abject misery of dying young after a life of back breaking Labour? Well they have no choice in the matter because that is what is happening. ——–With the seemingly plausible excuse of a climate crisis, which upon closer inspection is not supported by one iota of science.—–Roll up Roll up . get your heat Pumps while stocks last and make sure you stock up on extra pullovers and thicker curtains.