Noise Issue
Early last year we replaced our oil furnace with a heat pump using the existing ductwork. Immediately we found the new system to be incredibly noisy inside our house, both from the whooshing air from the registers and more recently from high pitched whistling. The installers explained that everyone has the same reaction when transferring from oil to heat pump forced air, but that a much larger volume of air is required to keep the house at a comfortable temperature (we set to 66F in the winter, 72F in the summer).
We experience a pretty high level of noise whenever the system is on (most the time). The first trunk/offshoot of the supply ductwork comes out in our main living area and the noise hits 79 dB. The kitchen and some hallways are at 65dB, the bedrooms furthest away from the air handler are around 50 dB. And at the air handler is in the basement, it's 85dB.
We keep some of the registers partially shut to keep the noise down in rooms we are using, including in our bedroom where we sleep.
House and Setup Information
1950's mid-century modest rambler with a daylight basement in Seattle, WA. 2,500 square feet. Attic is insulated and we added blow-in cellulose wall insulation shortly after installing the heat pump to try and lower operating time. Central air duct has a main rectangular trunk that 14x7in and the exposed branches are 7x6in rectangular and 6in cylindrical. Main floor has 7 supply registers and 2 return vents, basement has 6 supply registers and 1 return vent.
3 ton Daikin Fit Heat Pump model DZ17VSA361AA. Daikin Air Handler model DV36FECC14 with a 15KW aux heat kit.
Questions
Early last year we replaced our oil furnace with a heat pump using the existing ductwork. Immediately we found the new system to be incredibly noisy inside our house, both from the whooshing air from the registers and more recently from high pitched whistling. The installers explained that everyone has the same reaction when transferring from oil to heat pump forced air, but that a much larger volume of air is required to keep the house at a comfortable temperature (we set to 66F in the winter, 72F in the summer).
We experience a pretty high level of noise whenever the system is on (most the time). The first trunk/offshoot of the supply ductwork comes out in our main living area and the noise hits 79 dB. The kitchen and some hallways are at 65dB, the bedrooms furthest away from the air handler are around 50 dB. And at the air handler is in the basement, it's 85dB.
We keep some of the registers partially shut to keep the noise down in rooms we are using, including in our bedroom where we sleep.
House and Setup Information
1950's mid-century modest rambler with a daylight basement in Seattle, WA. 2,500 square feet. Attic is insulated and we added blow-in cellulose wall insulation shortly after installing the heat pump to try and lower operating time. Central air duct has a main rectangular trunk that 14x7in and the exposed branches are 7x6in rectangular and 6in cylindrical. Main floor has 7 supply registers and 2 return vents, basement has 6 supply registers and 1 return vent.
3 ton Daikin Fit Heat Pump model DZ17VSA361AA. Daikin Air Handler model DV36FECC14 with a 15KW aux heat kit.
Questions
- At the time of initial setup, the installer commented that we might need more return vents, but decided against it. Are there objective measurements they should be taking on static pressure and calculating how much return/supply air is needed?
- The air handler was set up on the slightly sunken concrete foundation in an otherwise floored basement room, our installers couldn't fit the 16x20x4 filter they brought into the filter holder. They recommended using 16x20x1 filters instead that can be bent into position. Could the thinner filter be pushing the system to work harder than it should?
- Any other thoughts or ideas on our noise level and solutions?
