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Big issue in the Netherlands (and probably more countries) will be noise pollution though. Houses here are built really close to each other and the combined noi

Big issue in the Netherlands (and probably more countries) will be noise pollution though. Houses here are built really close to each other and the combined noise could be an issue. Neighbours are already complaining about the noise from my parents heat pump.

toomuchtodo 8y ago
Do you have any centralized district heating in NL similar to in Sweden?
- donkeyd 8y ago
  In some newly developed areas we do, but most of the heating in the Netherlands runs on natural gas, since we have so much of it.
  - Yetanfou 8y ago
    ...or rather since we had so much of it. The Dutch government is, after all, making noises about the country going 'off the gas' to become 'gas-free' around 2050. As to whether this really will happen and what it actually will entail - are they going to tell industry to stop using gas as well? - remains to be seen but heat pumps are being pushed as one of the alternatives to gas. Given that nearly all central heating in the Netherlands is water-borne and most systems are designed for a high working temperature - between 70 and 90 degrees - the switch to a heat pump will need more than just a simple swap of the prime heater. Low-temperature (possibly fan-assisted) convectors can be used to replace high-temperature radiators, these can also be used to cool down the house in summer. More insulation is needed in most Dutch houses, even newly built houses sometimes don't have more than 10 cm of foam insulation in the roof and less in the walls.
- Freak_NL 8y ago
  I expect this to become more common in cities in the Netherlands for existing neighbourhoods built between the 1920s and 1970s. These older houses (of which there are a lot) are difficult, if not economically infeasible, to convert to heat pump heated houses. Insulation can be done to some extent — I've managed to insulate my 1930s house to a thermal resistance of R⒞ = 4,5 m²K/W in the attic and parts of the level above the ground storey, but this is not realistic for the ground floor — but it is not feasible to reach the R⒞ ≥ 6 m²K/W mandated for newly built houses. The noise is a serious problem too. In terrace housing you simply can't expect everyone to install these things and maintain a sane level of quiet. Better to solve this problem by insulating as much as possible, and to provide heat by collective solutions such as geothermal heat on a neighbourhood scale. The current 'let-the-citizens-solve-this-themselves' approach of our government is making homeowners insecure about what to do though.
pfranz 8y ago
I had a few units installed in my house last year. I was a bit confused when they described the "low-noise" mode because each indoor unit has a separate remote, but the "low-noise" applied to the shared outdoor unit, not to the indoor portion.
mediaman 8y ago
Modern heat pumps are extremely quiet. I have one right outside the bedroom window and never hear it. Little to no vibration either, despite it being mounted directly to the house. Perhaps older ones are noisier.

toomuchtodo 8y ago

Do you have any centralized district heating in NL similar to in Sweden?

donkeyd 8y ago
In some newly developed areas we do, but most of the heating in the Netherlands runs on natural gas, since we have so much of it.
- Yetanfou 8y ago
  ...or rather since we had so much of it. The Dutch government is, after all, making noises about the country going 'off the gas' to become 'gas-free' around 2050. As to whether this really will happen and what it actually will entail - are they going to tell industry to stop using gas as well? - remains to be seen but heat pumps are being pushed as one of the alternatives to gas. Given that nearly all central heating in the Netherlands is water-borne and most systems are designed for a high working temperature - between 70 and 90 degrees - the switch to a heat pump will need more than just a simple swap of the prime heater. Low-temperature (possibly fan-assisted) convectors can be used to replace high-temperature radiators, these can also be used to cool down the house in summer. More insulation is needed in most Dutch houses, even newly built houses sometimes don't have more than 10 cm of foam insulation in the roof and less in the walls.
Freak_NL 8y ago
I expect this to become more common in cities in the Netherlands for existing neighbourhoods built between the 1920s and 1970s. These older houses (of which there are a lot) are difficult, if not economically infeasible, to convert to heat pump heated houses. Insulation can be done to some extent — I've managed to insulate my 1930s house to a thermal resistance of R⒞ = 4,5 m²K/W in the attic and parts of the level above the ground storey, but this is not realistic for the ground floor — but it is not feasible to reach the R⒞ ≥ 6 m²K/W mandated for newly built houses. The noise is a serious problem too. In terrace housing you simply can't expect everyone to install these things and maintain a sane level of quiet. Better to solve this problem by insulating as much as possible, and to provide heat by collective solutions such as geothermal heat on a neighbourhood scale. The current 'let-the-citizens-solve-this-themselves' approach of our government is making homeowners insecure about what to do though.

pfranz 8y ago

I had a few units installed in my house last year. I was a bit confused when they described the "low-noise" mode because each indoor unit has a separate remote, but the "low-noise" applied to the shared outdoor unit, not to the indoor portion.

mediaman 8y ago

Modern heat pumps are extremely quiet. I have one right outside the bedroom window and never hear it. Little to no vibration either, despite it being mounted directly to the house. Perhaps older ones are noisier.