Heat pumps may be an environmentally friendly way of heating and cooling a home but some Tri-City residents are finding out the appliances are creating a different kind of pollution: noise.
On Monday night, Port Coquitlam council voted unanimously in favour of a bylaw amendment that would see fines for heat pump noise of $150 during the day and $300 at night.
Dan Scoones, the manager of bylaw services, said most heat pumps range in noise level from 60 to 70 decibels, higher than the 45 to 55 decibels set out in a standard noise bylaw.
But he added that there are measures residents can take to mitigate the noise. Fencing is a popular way of muffling sound and the placement of the intakes is also key.
While there are not many homes with heat pumps in Port Coquitlam, he said the devices are becoming more popular.
"In the past year, we have had six complaints, which doesn't seem like very many, but the complaints have been very determined."
One PoCo resident, Saho Sham, said she has not been able to sleep properly since her neighbour installed a heat pump. The intake for the system is close to her bedroom, she said, and the hum of the machine is enough to disturb her and her husband's rest.
"When you come home, you want peace," she said. "You don't want a machine vibrating."
Heat pumps are a good invention, Sham said, but people need to be more cautious with location of the intakes. She said the city needs to better regulate the systems in order to avoid noise conflict between neighbours.
But not all Tri-City residents are enthusiastic about changes to bylaws that would limit the use of heat pumps.
Timothy Lim installed an $11,000 heat pump at his Port Moody home last year and has battled his neighbour and the city over the noise issue ever since. He said municipalities should be doing more to encourage the use of heat pumps, not changing bylaws to make them more difficult to install.
"I think people that are trying to do their part should not be penalized for it," he said. "We understand that noise is an issue but we've got to be able to live with each other."
In an effort to mitigate the noise, Lim said he spent $6,000 replacing his fence, a project that was completed last week. He said he has yet to hear from his neighbour since the fence has been built and said that no news is good news.
But as the city becomes more densely populated, Lim said the number of problems between neighbours over heat pumps will likely increase. He said the city needs to re-visit its noise bylaw, which was written in 1978, and consider increasing the allowable decibel levels.
"It is really hard to live in a completely quiet environment," he said. "Here we get sounds from trains, saw mills, traffic, helicopters. It is just part of life. Where do you draw the line?"
Leslyn Johnson, Port Moody's communications advisor, said Port Moody does not require permits for installing heat pumps. But as more issues arise between neighbours, the city is considering ways of addressing the situation.
Andrea McDonald, Coquitlam's manager of bylaw enforcement, said that in the last six years, she can recall just two incidents involving noise complaints over a heat pump. She said the noise bylaw in Coquitlam states that the neighbourhood, not just one individual, must be disrupted in order for an infraction to have taken place.
