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Original poster

Neighbours heatpump

122 replies

user1471503652 · 06/08/2023 07:17

Had a letter through the door from planning about our adjoined neighbour (semi detached) installing a heatpump and seeking planning permission due to it being less than the 1m distance from the boundary.

He did knock and mentioned this would be coming through recently so it's not a surprise, I thought it was because it would be a few cm off the 1m from our wall.

However looking at the plans he's asking for it to be installed 35-40cm from our extension wall (we have a single rear extension and they do not)

Does anyone have any experience of heatpumps noise or vibration etc coming from a neighbours heatpump? Just trying to ascertain whether I should be concerned or not.

OP posts:
StillWantingADog · 06/08/2023 20:33

user1471503652 · 06/08/2023 20:18

Oh wow @schloss that's quite telling about the noise if you could hear from the car.

Strangely the door out of the conservatory is to the left so they will actually walk straight out into the HP, although the door will open fully.

Each to their own I suppose Confused

They must have been been particularly noisy ones. Honestly they vary so much don’t tar them all with the same brush.

StillWantingADog · 06/08/2023 20:37

Btw the gas boiler it replaced was definitely louder. Granted that was in the garage rather than in the garden.

Whyohwhyohwhy123 · 06/08/2023 20:45

It won’t vibrate as they are mounted to avoid vibration.
The location isn’t going to be the best but it could be worse for the ashp as it really needs fresh air all the time and to not be recirculating air.
twin fan models are noiser and mine is louder inside the house than when I’m stood outside and it’s running. But only in the room it backs onto.

StillWantingADog · 06/08/2023 20:51

Agree that vibration is not a thing. Mine is a low hum. Comparable with a fridge freezer.

8misskitty8 · 06/08/2023 20:58

Looking at that plan why can’t they put it on the side of their house or nearer their conservatory ?
35/40cm is very close to your property.
The hum and vibration would bother me.

HaveYouHeardOfARoadAtlas · 06/08/2023 20:59

Why can’t they put it round the side of their house?

TodaysNameIsZig · 06/08/2023 21:02

What's next to their house? Is there any reason it can't go on their other wall

Neighbours heatpump
StillWantingADog · 06/08/2023 21:04

HaveYouHeardOfARoadAtlas · 06/08/2023 20:59

Why can’t they put it round the side of their house?

A. Likely the pipework location means where they suggest is easiest to put it
B. It needs airflow immediately in front of it which it would not get next to a fence

littleburn · 06/08/2023 21:07

This was over 10 years ago, so models could have improved since then. We moved into a new build and our neighbours had one about a metre from the back garden boundary fence. In our conservatory it sounded like we had a noisy fridge running.

DirtyDuvet · 06/08/2023 21:23

A conventional boiler flue couldnt be that close
Check the legal position

studentgrant · 06/08/2023 22:47

I don't think I would agree to that.

EmeraldDuck · 06/08/2023 22:51

Ok I know nothing about heat pumps but I would object. Say you are concerned about noise and vibration and the extreme proximity to your home.

I rhink it should go on their other wall, ornif they can’t find a better site they just don’t get a heat pump.

unsync · 06/08/2023 22:55

They are more noisy than you might think, especially if not properly installed, dampened and levelled. Also, be aware of the volume (quantity) and velocity of the exhaust air. Is there anything in the application about service interval?

In your position, I would push for it to be as far from my boundary as possible. My neighbour at my previous house had one installed. That was about 15 m away and it was audible at night in the bedrooms.

BunnyBetChetwynnd · 06/08/2023 23:07

We had one in a house we rented a few years ago. It was at ground level but was directly under our bedroom window. It noise like a rattling extractor fan all the time. We asked for it to be disconnected as we couldn't sleep.

DollyLeggs · 06/08/2023 23:30

Several of my neighbours have them and the incessant humming and vibrating drives me mad. Between the pumps and the overwhelming stink of my next door neighbour's oil tank which makes me feel physically ill, I wish I could totally enclose my home in a cocoon.

Prettyvase · 07/08/2023 05:21

They are quiet and fantastic for the environment and don't belch fumes like oil or gas; some of you obviously don't care enough about climate change to be so petty as to want to object. Shame on you.

DougMLancs · 07/08/2023 06:31

I can’t help thinking some of these HP’s that people are complaining about may have needed a service once in a while or a blow down with an air line. My FIL has had one 2 years and last winter in -8 I had to be 10 paces away before I heard anything at all and then it was just like a fridge. I’ve never heard one from a road- I would be more inclined to think it was a jenny or air compressor. A recent survey by NESTA showed only 13% of ASHP owners were unhappy to some extent with the noise levels and that included people who’d had them 10 years+. Newer models are significantly quieter than even a few years ago, they have to be to have a chance of meeting the very strict Planning noise criteria.

HaveYouHeardOfARoadAtlas · 07/08/2023 07:23

Prettyvase · 07/08/2023 05:21

They are quiet and fantastic for the environment and don't belch fumes like oil or gas; some of you obviously don't care enough about climate change to be so petty as to want to object. Shame on you.

How do you think the majority of your electricity is generated?

BunnyBetChetwynnd · 07/08/2023 09:59

Prettyvase · 07/08/2023 05:21

They are quiet and fantastic for the environment and don't belch fumes like oil or gas; some of you obviously don't care enough about climate change to be so petty as to want to object. Shame on you.

Posters are recounting their own experiences and many have found them not to be quiet - quite the opposite in my case.

Your post assumes and awful lot about posters who might care deeply about the environment and make huge efforts in other ways to protect the earth.

My personal experience of heatpumps has been that they are noisy and ineffective. I also garden organically, grow my own veg that way, cycle and walk everywhere, am a member of Greenpeace, lobby my MP on environmental issues, have marched behind Greta Thunberg, don't fly, use solar panels in my home, am vegetarian, recycle and litter pick every single day in my local area.

To pass judgement and find shame necessary is when you don't have the full facts is pretty rude and ignorant.

GasPanic · 07/08/2023 11:25

Problem is once it is in and if it is noisy you won't be able to do anything about it.

They can be quite quiet, but it can also depend on how old they are (as fans wear they make more noise and newer models are probably quieter) and how they are sited.

If they are sited in a certain way close to passageways or walls sometimes the geometry of the surrounding buildings can amplify the sound and make it worse. It's something people often don't consider. I have had this issue before with stuff, when it is arranged in a certain way it is very quiet, but move it around and put things close to it and the noise gets hugely amplified - basically a resonance effect if you know anything about physics - kind of similar (not the same effect but same principle of getting louder) to wind howling through a passageway.

GasPanic · 07/08/2023 11:35

... I'm actually quite surprised that site would fit in the manufacturers spec, because it is closed off for air flow on two sides.

If the door of the conservatory opens onto it that explains why they want it further across. They can't put it on the ground in the side passageway as that would restrict access. Maybe they could mount it high on the wall above the side route ?

DougMLancs · 08/08/2023 09:46

BunnyBetChetwynnd · 07/08/2023 09:59

Posters are recounting their own experiences and many have found them not to be quiet - quite the opposite in my case.

Your post assumes and awful lot about posters who might care deeply about the environment and make huge efforts in other ways to protect the earth.

My personal experience of heatpumps has been that they are noisy and ineffective. I also garden organically, grow my own veg that way, cycle and walk everywhere, am a member of Greenpeace, lobby my MP on environmental issues, have marched behind Greta Thunberg, don't fly, use solar panels in my home, am vegetarian, recycle and litter pick every single day in my local area.

To pass judgement and find shame necessary is when you don't have the full facts is pretty rude and ignorant.

Show quote history

I don’t deny there are poor installations out there where installers/homeowners have just treated them like a boiler with on/off thermostats and fixed flow temperatures so it cycles on and off at full pelt. Proper installation using weather compensation will mean it is constantly running gently with minimum effort very quietly. Several of the top installers are setting up their own training centres to help ensure installers are properly trained.

As I mentioned before, 16% of 2500 heat pump owners in that NESTA survey cited the noise as an issue for them but the study also surveyed 1000 fossil fuel boiler owners where just under 10% were unsatisfied with the noise of their systems so not such a wide gap. Now there’ll be a big difference in how people perceive noise but I think it also shows it’s the installation/operation of the technology rather than the tech itself which is amplifying the noise issue.

You sound very environmentally conscious which is what everyone needs to strive towards but I do wonder what you believe the alternative is if we don’t embrace heat pump technology?

TodaysNameIsZig · 08/08/2023 10:13

As I mentioned before, 16% of 2500 heat pump owners in that NESTA survey cited the noise as an issue for them

It would have been more revealing to have surveyed the Nieghbours and asked if they had an issue with their Nieghbours HP

DougMLancs · 08/08/2023 10:35

Norway, Finland, Sweden and Estonia have widespread adoption of heat pumps, Italy and Germany are catching up and France installed 3.1 million in the last two years alone. So they are maybe all wearing earplugs, have the systems installed properly or are just more tolerant than us Brits?

In the future, this could be a moot point for places like terraced streets and apartments with the creation of ambient loop networks near to homes that homeowners can just connect to and do away with the need for the external fan unit.

BunnyBetChetwynnd · 08/08/2023 10:46

@DougMLancs My experience of a heat pump was 5 years ago in a brand new 'eco-build' cottage where the brand new pump had been installed by an acclaimed. successful and experienced builder of eco homes so I can only imagine the installation was spot on..but to be fair, I don't know that.

Yes, I am very environmentally conscious. I was very motivated to support the use of the heat pump but I was unable to live with it. I hope the future IS heat pump technology, but for it to be that it needs to be effective, efficient and not interfere with the quality of life the person who has purchased it and their family and neighbours. The future is also less overheated homes and better insulation and until that is sorted heat pumps are, forgive me, pissing in the wind.

That said, I'm not an engineer, I'm a gardener, so asking me about the future of heating is probably not the best way to go.