The UKs green-energy plans hit a rough patch as heat pump noise becomes a hot-button issue in residential areas. The government just dropped the one-meter installation rule which experts say might create more neighbor disputes
Natasha Nilsson from Woking faces a daily struggle with her neighbors recently-installed heat pump. “Its like a constant drone – I cant even use my garden anymore‚“ she explains while measuring noise levels that reach just above 40 decibels in her home (similar to a quiet library)
Matthew Dowsett shares his own heat-pump horror story: living next to an elderly neighborʼs installation thats causing sleep problems. “The vibration goes right through our wall; my partner gets really upset when it turns on at 4:30 am‚“ he says; the situation has made them think about moving house
The governments push for clean heating faces some real-world problems:
- Only 14‚000 heat pumps got installed last spring-winter
- Gas boilers still lead with 1.5 million new installations
- Heat pump costs reach £15‚000 vs £2‚000-4‚000 for gas units
- Current yearly target sits at 600‚000 installations by 2028
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero found that 1-in-4 people living near these units think theyre too noisy. Mike Foster from Energy Utilities Alliance points out: “Not all heat pumps work perfectly – they need checking and servicing to keep noise down‚ or our neighborhoods could turn into war zones“