Speaker
Description
Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHPs) represent an essential technology for the decarbonisation of home heating across Europe. As ASHP deployment becomes more widespread, the introduction of this relatively new noise source may increase community noise annoyance. Current standards for assessing ASHP noise often do not consider acoustic character, for example, tonality (the prominence of discrete frequencies or narrow frequency bands). This study investigates the impact of tonality on human perception of ASHP noise. Real recordings of ASHPs with differing tonality were presented to participants in a laboratory environment. The annoyance response of participants was evaluated using a paired comparison test between the ASHP sounds and reference sounds. The reference sounds were spectrally similar to the ASHP sounds, but with minimal tonal content. The findings of this study quantify the impact of tonality on perception of ASHP noise. This evidence may support a refinement of ASHP noise assessment standards, enabling acoustic character to be incorporated. As a consequence, communities may have an improved experience of ASHP noise.