Minisplit vibration on ICF wall?
DarkNova
| Posted in Mechanicals on
I’m looking into details on how I would install minisplits on a new home I’m planning a build for. I may do an ICF wall from basement to roof. I’ve seen mix things reported online with the minisplit vibration being heard when the outdoor unit is mounted on the wall. ICF walls should be very quiet normally (due to all the concrete) but I’m not really sure if there is more or less chance of vibration noise coming through because of the possibility of the wall resonating due to how rigid it is. Does anyone have any thoughts/experiences about this issue? Thanks.
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Replies
I don't know if there is more vibration with an icf wall than any other,but why attach to the wall? Mine are mounted on stands a foot or so away from the building specifically to avoid the problem.
Nick,
I would assume that lower frequencies, if they are present, would be transmitted much better through the structure. Unless you have specific sound dampening between the mounts and the concrete, I would also assume that there is the possibility that the compressor and or unit might have a frequency or resonant frequency, which operate in the lower ranges. I can hear my neighbors compressor that is close to 1000 feet away though; I can also tell if my electric resistance boiler is running based on the AC hum, so don't take my word for it.
Yes, I'm considering mounting it on a separate pad instead of wall mounting it for this reason -- I just wanted to see if someone had experience because it seems like some people say theirs is just fine with a wall mount and rubber vibration damper (although I haven't seen anything specific about ICFs). If it were just for A/C it wouldn't be an issue but I would want to mount about 5 feet up to keep it away from the snow so that is just more complicated doing a ground mount as we would need to build up some sort of structure to place it on.