Oak Bay residents may soon face sound restrictions on the use of their heat pumps.
At its April 14 council meeting, the district voted to move ahead with a third reading of an amendment to its anti-noise bylaw, which would impose limits on the allowable A-weighted decibels – or dB(A), for short – that heat pumps can produce in Oak Bay.
Operating a heat pump or multiple heat pumps on a single property, resulting in a sound power level measured from any property line in excess of 50 dB(A) between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. on any day, or 45 dB(A) between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. of the following day, would be forbidden, if the amendment is adopted at the district’s next council meeting on April 28.
“The amendment was asked for to align with the practices of neighbouring communities, which require lower sound volumes at night,” said Mayor Kevin Murdoch.
Those living within quiet zones in Saanich, for example, face restrictions similar to those tabled in Oak Bay.
According to Murdoch, residents have long expressed concerns about the sound heat pumps produce.
“In my experience on council, nighttime noise has been the largest source of neighbour complaints from heat pumps over the years, so this change should help,” he said.
One of those complaints Oak Bay received just hours before a discussion took place about the machines at a March 24 council meeting.
“This February, a new residential building nearing completion was equipped with a heat pump and A/C system along the side of the house, consisting of two identical air pump units,” a resident wrote in an email. "The sound carries – loud and clear – into our backyard, family room, office and worst of all our main bedroom. The intensity varies with the demand of heat and domestic hot water, but there hasn't been a night during which we didn't notice, even with windows closed.”
The policy change was given first and second readings during the March 24 meeting, where Coun. Esther Paterson asked staff how the district would enforce the proposed rules.
Director of community building and planning Andre Boel explained that measures are in place to enforce noise levels.
“There is a process possible through the bylaw enforcement route, where our staff would take a measurement and confirm what’s the case,” he said. “And if the limit is exceeded, then we would work with the owner of the heat pump, in this case, to make adjustments.”
This amendment was proposed in relation to another change, which would remove restrictions relating to the siting of residential heat pumps to avoid conflicts between building bylaw requirements, like the Zero Carbon Step Code, and the zoning bylaw.
“The intent is to ensure residents that want heat pumps have clear rules and regulations that are reasonable,” said Murdoch. “In this way, they become more viable. That being said, we still want them installed in a way that is good for neighbours. Heat pumps are one of the most efficient ways to heat and cool a buildings, so we want to support their use.”
