BS4142 Noise Survey’s for Air Source Heat Pumps

Clients often ask us if they require a BS4142 noise survey if they are installing an air source heat pump on their project, our answer is usually a resounding yes!

Essentially an air source heat pump behaves like a fridge in reverse, drawing thermal energy from the outside air and converting it to heat for distribution around your home, as with most similar units this produces noise, usually anywhere between 60-65dB when the measurement is taken at 1meter from the pump.

Whether it’s an air to air or air to ground system you’re installing there’s always a noise aspect to this type of equipment as they require a fan and compressor to function – and are installed externally which may be in close proximity to your neighbour.

Your local planning authority will want to ensure that your installation doesn’t cause nuisance to neighbours and will usually ask for a noise survey under British Standard 4142. This standard identifies a method for identifying if the noise generated by your air source heat pump is likely to give rise to complaint.

BS4142 currently uses the current ambient background noise of your location as its baseline for comparison there are some situations where you may have to look at acoustic treatment of the installation in order to get it through the planning process. It all depends on where your location, how much noise there is around your area, and how close the neighbours are to your air source heat pump.

If you’re thinking of installing an air source heat pump it’s definitely worth checking with your planning authority as to whether they require a noise survey. If you require a BS4142 Noise Survey on your ground source heat pump APT Sound Testing can usually carry it out within 5 working days.

You can start that process here if you like. Just go to the contact page, fill out the contact form and we’ll be back to you with a price.