Eneco and Whspr launch pilot with innovative silent heat pumps

Eneco and Whspr are proud to announce a partnership deal to introduce a new silent heat pump. The low-volume pump is better suited for use in more densely built-up residential areas, for example with terraced housing: the silent heat pump can even be installed in the corner of a garden without the noise troubling the neighbours. This winter, the partners will conduct a pilot to trial the technology as a new heating solution with a broad scope of applicability.
 

Most standard heat pumps are fitted with an outdoor unit that produces a persistent monotonous hum. That sound is so loud that Dutch national building regulations require the units to be placed several metres inside the property boundary. For terraced houses in particular, this generally means installing the unit in the middle of the exterior wall. However, most people would prefer their heat pumps in a less prominent place. By contrast, Whspr’s silent heat pump may be installed only 30 centimetres from the boundary. Eneco and Whspr have fitted some 20 homes with installations to test the level of noise produced by the heat pumps in practice, without compromising on the residents’ everyday heating comfort.    

The pilot will provide information about both how easy the systems are to instal and how they performs in practice. The data from the pilot can then be used to further optimise the heat pump, so that it will be available for broad use by the end of the summer.

Trialling in various residential situations
For the pilot period, heat pumps have been installed both in standard locations in homes and in more complicated places, for example on the roof or by a shed at the bottom of the garden. Heat pumps have also been installed in several rental homes of the Wooncompagnie housing corporation. The period until the end of April will be used for extensive testing of the heat pumps, before further optimising the system.