Horrors McGorrors! I didn’t know there was going to be a heat pump right outside my place! (C1) (there’s one outside Unit A6 on this plan too). I desperately hope it will not be directly under my window that looks onto the town belt/the path on the edge of our common boundary; I’m not good at understanding plans and proportions. Could someone (Tim?) please contact me to talk about it? I suppose the heat pumps are part of our district heating system – or are they part of the ventilation system? How many decibels will the fans create?

I’m hypersensitive to noise, traffic fumes and some other stimuli, due to ?fibromyalgia. I have not worried about road noise because of our triple glazing, but that side window is one I might like to open sometimes. Heat pumps cause quite a lot of problems between neighbours in higher-density housing areas. The RMA mentions noise from neighbouring property; in this case, it would be noise from my/our own property, so not covered by the Act.

Acoustics.org.nz note that In addition to Section 16 of the RMA another key section in relation to environmental noise is Section 17 - the “duty to avoid, remedy, or mitigate adverse effects” which includes noise effects. Section 17 states every person has a duty to avoid, remedy, or mitigate any adverse effect on the environment arising from an activity carried out by or on behalf of that person, whether or not the activity is in accordance with a rule in a plan.

They mention that Christchurch City Council has issued guidelines about installing heat pumps; I don’t know if Dunedin City has.

Thanks everyone

Claire

Hutt City Council

Heat pumps have the potential to exceed what's considered to be a reasonable noise level and create a nuisance, particularly at night-time and when they're located close to a property boundary. Take special care when you're deciding on a location for your heat pump.  
16 of the Resource Management Act 1991 makes every occupier of land responsible for adopting the best practicable option to limit noise emissions from their property to a reasonable level. The City of Lower Hutt Operative District Plan contains Noise Maps that identify appropriate noise limits for different areas of the city during different times of the day. These limits are used to identify a reasonable level for noise emissions from heating and ventilation equipment. The District Plan noise limits are measured in dBA (L10), which is a sound pressure level with a frequency weighting that more closely approximates the response of the human ear to sound. While District Plan maps should be used to precisely determine the reasonable level of noise for an area, indicative noise limits are provided in the table below: NOISE LIMITS: GENERAL RESIDENTIALDay-time7am - 10pm 45 dBANight-time10pm - 7am 35 dBASundays and statutory holidays24 hours35 dBAGenerally noise is measured at or within the boundary of any dwelling not on the same site. Council officers will respond to noise complaints and determine if it is necessary to reduce noise emissions to ensure a reasonable level of noise is achieved. A failure to comply with Section 16 of the Resource Management Act 1991 may result in enforcement action being taken in accordance with the Resource Management Act 1991.)

Download the guidelines regarding heat pumps (PDF 307 kb)

Download more detailed technical information (PDF 409 kb)

from Fair Go (ten years ago, but)
However heat pump noise appears to be an emerging issue around the country. Acoustic engineer Paul Rayner has been solving noise problems for 30 years. He says his company Noise Control Ltd gets about six complaints about heat pumps a month, whereas they used to get one every three months.

He advises people to think carefully about the placement of the outdoor unit and sound issues before the heat pump is installed, as heat pump noise problems are difficult and costly to solve once the unit is in place.

What you need to know:

Consider noise at a design stage and you will get a simpler and more cost effective result.

Ask your installer what the noise level is from the heat pump and if they are familiar with local noise regulations

From: Rainer Beneke
Sent: Thursday, 28 November 2019 11:53 AM
To: UCOL shareholders
Subject: [Ucol-shareholders] Fwd: High Street - Distribution Board and EMF

HI all

Below the electrical consent drawing with location of the Distribution board (red) and alternative positions (green).

Please also read below comments from the electrical engineer regarding EMF (electromagnetic field).

see you tomorrow.

regards Rainer

Please call me if you need an urgent reply.

Rainer Beneke

+64 21 144 7700

rainer.ucol@gmail.com

Begin forwarded message:

From: Tim Ross <tim@architype.co.nz>

Subject: Fwd: High Street - Distribution Board and EMF

Date: 20 November 2019 at 5:36:58 PM NZDT

To: High St Cohousing <ucolbuild@gmail.com>, Frances Ross <frances4ross@gmail.com>, Stefan Box <stefan@reececonsultants.co.nz>, Alex King <alex@king.net.nz>, Catherine Spencer <cmspencer.nz@zoho.com>, Rainer Beneke <rainer.ucol@gmail.com>

Hi Guys,

Please see response below from our electrical engineer to my questions.

Cheers,

Tim.

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Stew Macleod <Stewart@macleod.associates.co.nz>
Date: Wed, Nov 20, 2019 at 5:30 PM
Subject: RE: High Street - Distribution Board and EMF
To: Tim Ross <tim@architype.co.nz>

Tim

See Below

Regards,

Stew MacLeod

Director/Electrical Engineer

First Floor

Gridiron House

431 Princes Street

PO Box 1118

Dunedin 9054

P  +64 3 477 2402 Ext. 1

F  +64 3 477 2082

M  +64 021 2800 551

E   stewart@macleod.associates.co.nz

W  www.macleod.associates.co.nz

This message and accompanying data is confidential. If you aren't

the intended recipient you are hereby notified that any use,

dissemination, distribution or copying of this message is prohibited.

If you have received this message and/or attachments in error, please

notify us immediately then destroy the message and attachments.

From: Tim Ross [mailto:tim@architype.co.nz]
Sent: Wednesday, 20 November 2019 3:55 p.m.
To: Stew Macleod
Subject: Fwd: High Street - Distribution Board and EMF

Hi Stuart,

We are still trying to resolve where to relocate the main distribution board the High St project.

We have one future resident who is concerned about the location of the main distribution board and the proximity to her unit.

I think we breifly discussed this last time we meet and you mentioned that the EMF drops off very rapidly from electric appliances etc. 

Couple of questions:

1. Would the EMF from the distribution board be any greater than that coming from the main cable entering the site?

Much the same

2. At what distance from the distribution board would the EMF be similar to background levels of electromagnetic radiation?

The background level is around 0.65 mGauss, a switchboard might have 30 to 50m Gauss at 300 mm away but at one metre is probably about 1 mGauss

3. Is there an easy way of measuring the EMF at different distances from a distribution board to demonstrate that this is not an issue?

Yes you can borrow my instrument and try it.

4. Is there anything we could do to contain the EMF from the distribution board if it was in close proximity to someone's property?

You can get a metal called cold rolled grain orientated steel which can be used for shielding. We could put some of this behind the board. It takes time to get from overseas.

Out of interest some appliance generate more Gauss that people think, i.e. electric jugs and blankets, even shaves but because people are only exposed to them for a short time (The Dose Rate) they are considered OK.

At this time and there has been many studies there is no evidence to suggest that there are problems.

In saying this I don’t believe you should keep your cell phone in your ear for long periods.

Thanks,

Tim Ross

Director

BArch, ANZIA Registered Architect

Certified Passivhaus Designer

Architype Ltd.

ASB House, Level 6

248 Cumberland Street

PO Box 5510, Dunedin 9058

(m) 021 069 2404

(t) 03 552 0621

www.architype.co.nz