Rules stymie heat pumps

Noise regulations affect installment

By Matt Batcheldor | The Olympian • Published May 16, 2008

The temperature could hit 90 degrees today, but Carol Frink already was steaming when she learned that the heat pump she paid a $7,300 deposit for couldn't be installed this week because of a change in the way Olympia processes permits.

"They can't finish the job because the city won't let them," she said of installers.

City officials said they have issued permits more slowly for heating and air-conditioning systems since April because they are more closely scrutinizing how much noise the devices make.

The change has affected several residents looking to install heating or air-conditioning systems and prompted a meeting Thursday between the city and contractors who install the appliances.

Change considered

The City Council's land-use committee will consider changes to the city's noise regulations Monday that could affect where heat pumps could be placed, as well as ways to make them less noisy.

Solutions include requirements for where to place outdoor appliances, noise blankets, noise walls and special fan blades, said Keith Stahley, the city's director of community planning and development.

Delays

Tom Hill, the city's permits and inspections manager, acknowledged that some permits have been delayed but said they are being issued.

"The long and short of it is that we're in a better position now to begin to release some of the applications for these heating and cooling units that have been kind of stuck in a circle for a little bit," Hill said.

He said the city had delayed issuing three permits for heating or cooling systems but finally had done so. He said three other permits have yet to be issued. Hill said the city hasn't received an application for a permit for Frink's heat pump, but it's possible a contractor could have requested one.

The delays started because of a resident's complaint more than a year ago about a neighbor's heat pump. The city hadn't received a noise complaint about a heat pump before, said Hill, who has been a city employee for more than 20 years.