AAAARRRGH! Damn Neighbors noisey heatpump!

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › AAAARRRGH! Damn Neighbors noisey heatpump!

floydie

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#175347 25-Jun-2015 17:33

so we just built a brand new house and kitted it out with a 14KW fujitsu ducted heatpump and its nice and quiet...but the neighbors one ( not a brand i usually equate to heatpumps , i think its a samsung?/) sounds like a cessena buzzing around our house (and theirs is only a 7KW one).

any thoughts on how i can broach this with the said neighbor without ending up on TV? its SERIOUSLY annoying and resonates throughout our living area. He's a total tightwad cheapskate so dunno how this will play out....

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#1331597 25-Jun-2015 17:35

Noise control

lissie

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#1331598 25-Jun-2015 17:36

If it's cold enough to have your HP running how on earth can you hear your neighbours - don't you have the window shut?

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Inphinity

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#1331599 25-Jun-2015 17:36

maybe it's faulty and they don't realise it's so loud... I'd just try and bring it up politely either in person or a note in their letter box. if that doesn't work, and it really is loud, a noise complaint could be the next step.

timmmay

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#1331600 25-Jun-2015 17:37

If you approach people in a friendly way, with a reasonable attitude, not a "hey that's bugging us I hate you" attitude most people are reasonable. Problem is I'm not sure what he could do about it, other than perhaps have it serviced or repaired. Heat pumps are usually pretty quiet so it could just need a service. Both of mine are so quiet you have to stand within a meter to hear them - Fujitsu and Daikin.

floydie

474 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1331616 25-Jun-2015 17:59

its thier outdoor unit thats loud. it manages to get its sound through the fence and through our new double glazed window'd brick house... im betting thats its working ok as its only a 6 month old place but itll be some cheap HP.

EDIT:oh for reference i had our car idling on the driveway out the front of the house and their HP down the side of the section was louder then the car!!!!

gzt

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#1331623 25-Jun-2015 18:04

6mo they can get it looked at under warranty no cost. better than having it fail out of warranty with vibration damage etc.

Inphinity

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#1331639 25-Jun-2015 18:35

If it is Samsung as you suggest earlier, it should not be that loud. We had some Samsung 8kw ones installed recently at a clients site and the outdoor unit is rated to 53dBA. We have an 8kw Fujitsu which is rated to 52dBA, so sod all difference.

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nakedmolerat

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#1331653 25-Jun-2015 19:04

I don't know if I can believe this at all.

If the house is new, fully insulated, tight door and windows, you can't and should not hear anything like that! Unless if that heatpump run on diesel!

If the noise and vibration can goes over your fence something is not right. I'm sure they'll be annoyed themselves if you can hear it from that distance?????

insane

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#1331683 25-Jun-2015 19:47

Can you take a video or audio recording and post it up somewhere?

gzt

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#1331689 25-Jun-2015 20:08

Most likely low frequency problem vibration from incomplete installation or similar.

muppet

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#1331692 25-Jun-2015 20:11

Tell a bunch of Internet strangers about it, rather than approach them about it.
The strangers will have a much better gauge of the situation and will be able to offer impartial, conflicting and stupid advice.
This will not help resolve the problem at all, but may help make you feel as if you're "doing something" about the problem.

If that fails, murder them in their sleep.

raytaylor

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#1331693 25-Jun-2015 20:12

Sounds like a fault with the unit. They need to get it looked at.

The problem you have is that although most councils will have a very basic bylaw in place which specifies the db rating that may be emitted beyond your property boundary after a certain time in the evening. But because an outdoor heat exchanger can make a very deep low sound, it can penetrate walls and insulation much more than a higher tone such as music. This makes the decibel rating harder to use as an assessment tool.

There are also common sense allowances for excessive noise - like if you live next to a soccer field, you expect to hear cheering on a saturday morning. But if a new brass band forms and starts practising right over your back fence every day, you have the ability to file a complaint.

Christchurch is an interesting one - they have raised the allowable noise levels in the city centre to allow for night clubs and bars to operate, but outside the CBD in suburbia, the limit is

Section 326 of the resource management act defines excessive noise as 'any noise that is under human control and interferes with the peace, comfort and convenience of any person'. Without any set times, but a reasonable expectation of activity is allowed - such as short loud bursts of noise for construction etc.

Auckland doesnt appear to specify a decibel rating - though I saw a noise control officer was outside the whitehouse measuring the decibel level last time I visited.

Anyhow this is a summary of christchurch's city plan for residential areas from http://cityplan.ccc.govt.nz/pages/plan/book.aspx
Nighttime 10pm - 7am
"Steady sound level with stepped variations of level" uses the L eq (1 hour) rating
Daytime 50dBA
Night time 41dBA

Also you might want to read this http://www.acoustics.org.nz/journal/pdfs/Hannah,_L_NZA2009.pdf
It has a good point about the benefits of inverter type heat pumps- they are less noisy.

So to summarise
1) Approach them and get it looked at under warranty
2) File a noise complaint
You may be able to rely on the resource management act if your council bylaws dont help. remembering the RMA is more a common sense/disturbing the peace based limit rather than a decibel rating.

Ray Taylor

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raytaylor

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#1331695 25-Jun-2015 20:14

Oh also check if the outdoor unit has a decibel rating on its specifications label.
Making a box to cover the outdoor unit could be a solution with holes on one side to let air into the back of the unit, and on the other side to let air out.
It would lower its efficency a bit (not your problem) but will lower the noise being projected out the front of the box towards your fence.

Ray Taylor

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surfisup1000

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#1331724 25-Jun-2015 20:49

nakedmolerat: I don't know if I can believe this at all.

If the house is new, fully insulated, tight door and windows, you can't and should not hear anything like that! Unless if that heatpump run on diesel!

If the noise and vibration can goes over your fence something is not right. I'm sure they'll be annoyed themselves if you can hear it from that distance?????

Low frequency noise has a long wavelength and passes right through walls and windows more easily than higher freqs.

raytaylor

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#1331726 25-Jun-2015 20:51

Screw the attributes of low frequency noise, lets talk more about that murder option suggested above.
It sounds interesting, fast and practical.

Ray Taylor

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