Last week, the government relaxed some of the planning restrictions previously in place around heat pump installations. On the whole, those changes are without doubt a positive for the renewable sector, but others throw up some valid concerns for home owners and their neighbours.
From early next year, a new “warm homes plan” includes boosting the budget by an extra £30m for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme to support more households to switch to a heat pump. In addition, planning restrictions will be relaxed allowing more people to install air source heat pumps without the need to apply for planning permission. Changes will be made to the number and size of heat pumps permitted in certain properties and the one meter boundary rule will be removed, allowing heat pumps to be installed in close proximity of a property boundary.
The obvious question this raises is should we be worrying about how disruptive the noise from our heat pump is going to be for our neighbours? Having installed heat pumps for over 10 years, PBT installations are familiar with customer concerns about heat pumps and associated disruption.
The average heat pump should generate the same noise levels as a laptop or dishwasher generally falling between 40 and 60 decibels. That said, there is a big variable between makes and models and generally speaking, you get what you pay for. A lot of the cost of a more premium model of heat pump goes into design features and efficiencies which result in markably quieter technology.
For example, PBT Installations prefer to install STIEBEL ELTRON heat pumps. STIEBEL ELTRON heat pumps have market-leading low sound emissions and come with “silent” programs that can be set for night time operation. The compressor and electronics are encased in a sound-insulated chamber to reduce noise as much as possible.
Unfortunately for our industry, many of the noise issues reported in bad press around heat pumps are not just due to inferior units, but also to poor workmanship. If you have an inexperienced installer fitting your pump, you can generally expect issues. Your heat pump might be working far more than necessary due to poor set up, or you might find noise reverberating off nearby walls due to the poor situation and inadequate clearance around the unit.
Overall, if you plan to install a heat pump under the new relaxed planning restrictions, we would recommend you look for MCS approved installers with proven experience, who work with efficient, purpose-built heat pumps from well-reputed manufacturers such as PBT Installations.
PBT Installations recently retrofitted a heat pump for a property in Cheltenham who were keen to make the switch over but asked the question about noise levels both when enjoying their garden space and for the sake of the neighbours. In both cases, they have been completely satisfied by the almost discernible noise levels from the heat pump. Read their case study here.
Contact PBT Installations for more information.