So I’m in the house and looking at trimwork. The guy says “you wouldn’t know why our heat pump makes so much noise, would you?” No, I haven’t got a clue since I know diddly on HVAC. But I say I’ll listen to it and take a look – ignorance aside, it could actually be something obvious. The unit is loud, to be sure, but it’s mostly a vibrating sound coming from outside, where the big unit is sitting on two welded steel brackets lagged into the side of the house. Very common around here. I look under it, nothings holding the unit to the brackets. I can lift the front off. Question 1) is this normal not to be anchored, question 2) if I put something akin to a big rubber washer under the corners and somehow bolt the box to the brackets, am I going to solve anything? Better solutions?
“There is always inequity in life. Some men are killed in war and some men are wounded, and some men never leave the country. Life is unfair” J.F.Kennedy
Replies
If you live in a snow belt area, heat pump condensing units should be up off the ground high enough that the coil will not be buried in the snow. Since the unit runs the compressor for generating both heat and air conditioning, there will be some vibration. Your HVAC distributor should have some sort of vibration isolator pads designed specificly for this - rubber for vibration and fiber reinforced for strength. I personally would try to secure the unit to the brackets. Some 3/8" bolts should be more than enough.