Noisy central heating pump

[Marakith]

Hi there

I just had a new central heating system fitted. An Air Source Heat Pump as it happens.

It replaces our boiler that was under the stairs. Now there's just a hot water cylinder and a load of buffer tanks etc.

The problem is that the Wilo pump we have in there is noisy - it makes this droning sound that is audible in the hallway and even on the landing one flight up.

The irony is that we spent a fair bit of money getting a noise assessment done on the pump to prove it wasn't a noise nuisance not knowing we'd end up with a noisy pump inside the house.

The installer says that's just how loud pumps are. We've tried wrapping it with insulation and also lagging every pipe out of the boiler room but to no avail.

Is the pump defective or should we suck it up?

Thanks!

 

[200sols]

Hi there

I just had a new central heating system fitted. An Air Source Heat Pump as it happens.

It replaces our boiler that was under the stairs. Now there's just a hot water cylinder and a load of buffer tanks etc.

The problem is that the Wilo pump we have in there is noisy - it makes this droning sound that is audible in the hallway and even on the landing one flight up.

The irony is that we spent a fair bit of money getting a noise assessment done on the pump to prove it wasn't a noise nuisance not knowing we'd end up with a noisy pump inside the house.

The installer says that's just how loud pumps are. We've tried wrapping it with insulation and also lagging every pipe out of the boiler room but to no avail.

Is the pump defective or should we suck it up?

Thanks!

My thermal store has 2 20+ year old pumps on it, one for tank circulation and one for heating circulation and neither are very noisy. You expect a little noise like a slight hum while they are running but nothing that should be audible with the door closed. If you hear droning or vibration noises it sounds like an installation issue.

 

[radderfire]

The installer says that's just how loud pumps are. We've tried wrapping it with insulation and also lagging every pipe out of the boiler room but to no avail.

Is the pump defective or should we suck it up?

What sort of insulation did you wrap it with?

Maybe hire a decibel meter to see how loud it is and then ask the manufacturer if that's normal?

Otherwise, proper acoustic insulation on the inside walls of the cupboard might work, although that might be expensive and take up space so probably not worth bothering with.

 

[Marakith]

The pure decibels aren't the issue - it's the resonating hum that seems to be.

The engineer has offered to replace the Wilo with a Grundfos. Do you think it'll make much of a difference?

 

[radderfire]

The pure decibels aren't the issue - it's the resonating hum that seems to be.

The engineer has offered to replace the Wilo with a Grundfos. Do you think it'll make much of a difference?

I don't know, not my specialty. You could try phoning some heating engineers before you do it ... I did once have a Groundfos pump fitted for my central heating and that was fairly quiet if that helps.

Have you checked that none of the pipework is vibrating unnecessarily? i.e. could be secured.

 

[Coran]

It might be worth recording a video so we can get a feel for how bad it is.

I have a heat pump with a buffer tank and 2 pumps in the airing cupboard and I don’t even notice them in that room. They’re not massively noisy and there’s no real vibration or droning.

Is it just the pump itself producing the noise or (as others queried) the pipe work around it?