By Al Williams, Open Justice reporter of 
The heatpump’s noise overnight attracted several complaints from neighbours.
Photo: 123RF
Patrick Smith and his family just wanted to stay warm at night, but it proved to be a battle as they were told by authorities they had to switch off their heat pump.
Neighbours had been complaining since 2023 about the noise the external unit of the Christchurch family’s heat pump was making, recently leading to an abatement notice instructing them to switch it off between 10pm and 7am.
Shortly afterwards, Smith turned to the Environment Court to appeal the notice, expressing how the heat pump ban was affecting his family’s wellbeing.
“My children are waking several times in the night because they are cold; my wife and I are having to get up, put the children back to bed and resettle them each time,” he submitted.
“The children are also cold when they get up each morning.”
While the notice has now been cancelled and the Smiths are again able to heat their home at night, it was a challenge for the family to reach that point.
The court’s recently released decision on the issue detailed how the Christchurch District Council had issued the abatement notice on 13 August, after it was found Smith’s heat pump generated noise higher than 40 decibels.
That sound level is considered roughly equivalent to a quiet library, refrigerator or the sound of a quiet room, according to decibel charts.
The notice stated compliance was required the following day, and once mitigation work was complete, the council would need to reassess the heat pump’s noise before Smith was allowed to use it again during the night.
Smith lodged his appeal against the notice, and made an application for a stay, which would temporarily halt it, the day he received the notice.
He told the Environment Court he considered it unreasonable to comply with the notice because his family was reliant on the heat pump.
It was ducted and was needed to heat his children’s bedrooms during the night and the living areas when they got up in the morning, he submitted.
Mitigation work undertaken
He pointed out that the specifications and the location of the external unit had been signed off by the council as part of the building consent process.
However, since the complaints, significant work to mitigate the noise of the unit had been undertaken, he argued.
Most recently, a capacitor was installed on 11 August to limit the operation of the heat pump to low noise mode.
He said the abatement notice relied on noise measurements taken in late July, before the capacitor was installed.
Smith submitted that the council had been informed of the capacitor on 12 August, yet still issued the notice the following day.
He claimed the council had failed to provide him with a range of information, including copies of the data it held in relation to the measurements undertaken, despite several requests for it.
The alleged lack of information made it difficult for him to know whether the mitigation work had been effective, he said.
On 3 September, Judge Prudence Steven granted the stay until the council assessed the mitigation measures that Smith had implemented.
Judge Steven directed the council to update Smith and the court on whether the District Plan noise limits were still being breached.
But that same day, and before the judge’s decision was formally issued, the council advised it had cancelled the abatement notice, following “subsequent monitoring”.
It confirmed there had been a “significant reduction in noise levels”.
As a result, Judge Steven cancelled the stay.
According to the decision, Smith, who declined to comment on the matter when approached by NZME, may now seek costs from the council through the court if an agreement could not be reached between them.
John Higgins, the council’s general manager of strategy, planning and regulatory services, told NZME the council had maintained regular communication with the Smith family.
“They were aware the council was satisfying itself that the noise had been properly addressed.”
Higgins confirmed the abatement notice was issued after repeated complaints about the heat pump’s evening noise.
“Following noise measurements being undertaken and a number of discussions occurring with the owner of the heat pump, the noise was not properly addressed, and an abatement notice was issued.
“Mitigation work was subsequently undertaken to reduce the noise, and no further complaints have been received.
“On that basis, council cancelled the notice on 3 September.”
* This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald.