What's your experience with heat pump hot water heater noise?

Post date: 2022-05-19 09:26:50

Our gas hot water heater is reaching the end of its life and we're looking at replacing it with a heat pump water heater (likely either a Bradford White or Rheem/Ruud). One of the hardest parts of the decision-making process for us has been determining if the additional noise produced by the heat pump is going to be bothersome to us. If you have one of these what has your experience been with noise?

We're looking at a heat pump both for environmental reasons and because we're considering putting in solar in the relatively near future.

A lot of people say the noise is a low hum and through an insulated wall they can barely hear it, but then there are threads like this one with people saying they can hear theirs loudly throughout their entire home. It's also hard to tell from dB numbers what they actually sound like.

Our installation would be in the garage with an insulated wall between the heater and our dining room and an access door with no insulation between the water heater and our backyard deck.

We're located in East Bay Area in California in case that's relevant.

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