My neighbors installed a 5-ton amana unit about ten feet from my bedroom window. The compressor is incredibly loud. Is there anything I can do to quiet the compressor? I have heard the term 'sound-blanket' bounced around but don't really know about them or where to get one.
Any ideas welcome.
Some Amana's come with a sound blanket. Look thru the grill and see if there is a sock over the compressor. If there is then the blanket is already installed. Otherwise one could be added. Also feel the outside cover and grill to see if it is vibrating. Could be just a loose screw. I believe my parents have a 1 year 3.5 ton Amana and it is much quieter than my Carriers which are 8 years old. Must be a big house to require a 5 ton unit or he was ripped off.
Try your local city council. Many cities and/or states have noise ordinances. If yours does, you may be able to get your neighbor cited, in which case it'll be his/her problem to solve.
HellT
Try working with your neighbors and ask them to do something, suggest they call their tech. If that fails then contact your local code enforcement people. Most areas have rules about where a A/C unit can be placed so it does not disturb the neighbors.
Doubtful those rules would exist in a community where houses are 5' off the property line.
It could be something loose on the unit making more noise than normal, I have also heard techs say loosening the hold down bolts to the compressor one turn helps alot. There are setback alowances as to how far you can build to a property line, mine is 4 feet. Units have a db sound rating from the company. Radio Shack sells db meters , db ratings are done at a specified distance away. The manufacturer will give you testing details, maybe check it yourself before you go to the trouble of finding it is in fact an extremely quiet unit If it is actualy quiet you options are limited.
Sound can be difficult to block. What comes to mind are those walls they put up between freeways and resident lots. A brick wall should work. Depending on the neighbor, I may try talking to them about it--they may split the cost of a wall. Putting heavy fabrics in your bedroom will help a little.
Sure they can. There are four sides to a house. They may require movement to a different side.
I seriously doubt that the law is on your side.
But some options availabe would be to offer to pay him to move his condensing unit to some other place.
The freeway sound barrier is also a good idea.
Pj
This is Turtle.
12 seer and above Amana condensers come with sound blankets on them.It being a 5 ton condenser it has a scroll compressor on it which can be loud. the 10 seer i don't think has a sound blanket on it.
There can only be three thing to get it to not be so loud here and they are.
1) Get or make sure it has a sound blanket on the scroll compressor.2) Have it checked out by the installer for it being louder than normal for the Amana condensers are not known for being too loud. All of them seem to be on the Quiet side.
3) Check on putting a Poly-Urathan shock pad to set it on. It is a rubber pad about 3 inches thick that it sets on and will absorbe sound or vibration noise from the condenser. If it is vibration noise the pad will cut it way down.Now what kind of noise that it is putting out. Air hissing noise , vibration noise, clatter noise, Hummmmming noise, or a putter sound like a car running ?
What I think here is a $30.00 shock pad to to put under it , sounds like what is in order here.
TURTLE
TURTLE
========================== Amana condensers should not be that noisy.
The indoor return air may be pulling hot air from the attic space! That will overload the compressor and it will usually be noisy. Hold your hand over the condenser and feel how hot the discharge air is. If you can, check the temperature rise of the discharge air with a thermometer. Darrell udarrell ==========================
There's a very good chance that it is. Like I said, a lot of states and community now have noise ordinances. My sister complained about her next-door neighbor's attic ventilation fan. The cops came out, acknowledged it appeared to be violating the ordinance, but blew her off. So she contacted the city council, quoted the municipal ordinance and state statute, and told them if they didn't act on it, she'd take both the neighbor and the city to court. Three days later, on order of the city, the fan was disconnected. And the rest of the neighbors (quietly) celebrated.
That neighbor still has the option of replacing the noisy attic fan with one that doesn't violate the noise ordinance. This person's neighbor could be given the same option with regards to the a/c unit: quiet it, replace it, disconnect it.
A person in an adjoining city from mine won the same fight over a neighbor's outdoor hot tub whose pump was too noisy. The owner hadn't bothered to check the ordinances before installing it; too bad, he had to shut down his tub because the pump violated the noise statute.
HellT
Complaign to your neighbor and if that doesn't work call your local county/city representative and he/she can direct your complaint to the appropriate office. Should tell you something about Amana though, when it comes time to replace yours you already know of one brand to say NO too.
Put me down for $5 that they over charged it.
This is Turtle.
You know You got me to thinking here and I have seen 2 scroll compressor this summer that was over charged and the scroll compressor was bellering like a shot Hog. You might get you five here on that bet.
TURTLE
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