BullDog wrote:Howard wrote:Still very happy with my aircon. Doesn't use much electricity.
It's much quieter, externally and internally, than our modern gas boiler.
When the boiler is working hard in cold weather its exhaust is noisy. The ASHP fan has a quieter hum.
There are a couple of large new houses near me with massive ASHPs close to footpaths which (out of interest) I've listened to carefully. They too are pretty quiet.
regards
Howard
Interesting, thanks. I suggest (if you didn't do so last winter) is to walk past those same houses when the weather is close to or below freezing and the heat pumps are running flat out. Be interesting to know in the real world how noisy they are then compared to now. Quite a bit louder I should think when running flat out.
I have listened to my own ASHP operating below freezing outside, warming the room inside to 23 degrees. Much quieter than our central heating gas boiler working flat out. The latter's exhaust is a higher pitched noise which is much more obtrusive! And, of course it often produces a huge plume in freezing weather. Inside the house it's a joke comparing the two. The ASHP is whisper quiet and doesn't compete with the TV for example. The gas boiler thankfully is in the utility room and the exhaust fan is very noisy. But I guess no noisier than any other gas boiler working hard.
The very large houses I walk past have two ASHPs each, so they are probably not too stressed. I guess they do have to work a bit harder in the winter, but at the moment their biggest load is probably keeping the swimming pools up to temperature.
I have taken an interest in the noise because our village hall will need a new heating system in the near future and it's being discussed by the locals. As a check I got my grandchildren (who obviously have better hearing than me) to listen to the powerful ASHPs and to consider how far away they were inaudible. They took the task seriously and pointed out that cars driving at 30 mph or less on the road more than 50 yards from the village hall were far louder. Noise from buses and lorries made the comparison fairly laughable.
Will check again in freezing weather on a country stroll. The village hall situation will probably mean that a few of us locals will be taking an interest, particularly those who live close to the hall.
By the way, the reason for using the aircon for heating is that it heats our living room incredibly quickly. And costs pence to run. This morning, for example, the room temperature was 17.5 degrees and a ten minute ASHP burst warmed the air in the room to a relatively toasty 22 degrees. Using the gas central heating to do this would cost dramatically more and take an hour or two, wasting heat in the rooms we weren't using.
regards
Howard