loud a/c unit

MaylandsManor · Nov 26, 2008 2:22 pm

We had an ACTRON ESP system installed yesterday on the outside wall of our double brick home. it is wall mounted at about chest height. we can hear the humming and whurring through the wall. it changes from one sound to another and back again about every 40 seconds which is much more annoying than just a constant hum. the guy in the shop said it's the quietest unit around and that it would be fine to mount it outside our bedroom. we argued and had it pushed up about 2 metres away from our bedroom but you can still hear it. is this normal? can other people hear their unit from inside the house? i wonder if it is something to do with it being wall mounted, but i thought double brick would supress the sound. the actual vents are extremely quiet and very efficient but up in our bedroom near the external unit, it is too loud
thanks for your thoughts
Helen

Ancient Mariner · Nov 26, 2008 5:35 pm

Wall mounted? Very strange. Don't think I've ever seen a ducted air unit mounted on a wall, they're too big.

But if it is attached to the wall then yes, you are going to hear it even a few metres away. Up until a few months ago we had a Daikin 18Kw unit located outside a bedroom and that was bloody noisy at night.

Our Actron ESP is located on a garage wall but although that's only three metres from an en-suite window it cannot be heard in the bedroom at all (and we're in a very quiet rural area). It stands on vibration absorbing feet too, which I thought was standard. Of the three ducted air systems we've had there's no doubt that Actron is the quietest overall but if it's somewhere where it can be heard through a wall I agree, that cycling every 30 seconds or so (which is how the ESP works) would be infuriating. Double brick (if there are no batts in the wall space) might even make the noise worse -- it could be amplified.

In your shoes I'd be telling the installers to get it off the wall and stand it on a concrete pad -- it should be at least 100mm away from the wall.

Ancient Mariner · Nov 26, 2008 5:42 pm

Out of curiosity I've just checked this. With the air-con on full I can only just, very faintly, hear the Actron unit (18Kw) even when standing in the garage, and the unit sits right outside the garage window.

Something amiss with your installation.

mattwalker · Nov 26, 2008 9:51 pm

Ancient Mariner

Out of curiosity I've just checked this. With the air-con on full I can only just, very faintly, hear the Actron unit (18Kw) even when standing in the garage, and the unit sits right outside the garage window.

Something amiss with your installation.

Sounds like it!

I have a massive (and I mean huge!!) Brivis unit wall mounted to the outside of our house and you can only just hear it running.

You hear the compressor fire up (a loudish whoosh) and shut down when you switch it on and off but thats it!

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Ancient Mariner · Nov 27, 2008 9:45 am

Ah, so these things can be mounted on the wall. Learn something new every day. But the unit itself is not attached to the wall, which is what I thought the OP meant.

The OP's problem may be something as simple as having no vibration absorbing material where the unit stands on those brackets.

MaylandsManor · Dec 01, 2008 4:17 pm

thanks everyone for your thoughts, the guys are coming to look at the unit this week. matt, when you say you can hear a whooshing when yours starts up, does this whooshing stop straight away even if the target temperature has not been reached. mine seems to continue with this noise until about 1 hour after the target temperature has been reached and then it goes silent. it's very strange.
will keep you posted with the outcome and post a pic when have better net connection.
cheers
helen

jaycmc · Dec 14, 2008 9:54 pm

I think it has mostly to do where around the house it is mounted.
We also have an Actron ESP Ultima (18kw) and it is mounted about 5m from our master bedroom and floor mounted. We can also hear the compressor hum tone but it is soft from the bedroom from my point of view but the missus thinks it is noisy .
The installers have been out to try to quieten it down with extra noise damping material around the compressor with no noticable difference. I wasn't too fussed that they couldn't do anything. They suggested planting some bushes down the side of the house where we have the outdoor unit to absorb some of the noise.
Where we have the outdoor unit is at the side of the house and only ~1m away from the side fence which is colorbond and there is no other vegetation(ie bushes) around the side to absorb the sound. The side of the house is ~1.5 to 2m from the colorbond fence and I believe that the compressor noise is bouncing off the fence, house eaves and house walls and making it seem louder than it actually is - especially at night when there is no other noise around.
Let us know how your installers went.