Quiet, please! Heat pumps must become significantly quieter from 2026
From January 1, 2026, stricter funding regulations for heat pumps apply. Devices must be 10 dB quieter than required by EU rules and 5 dB quieter than before.
Heat pump during sound measurement in the Wolf company laboratory
(Image: Wolf)
The EU regulates emissions from heat generators, among other things, in its Ecodesign Regulations. The most relevant local emission from an air-to-water heat pump is noise. EU Regulation No. 813/2013 specifies the maximum sound pressure at the point of origin according to performance classes (see table). German funding requirements are even stricter. Until the end of 2025, the rule is: those who want funding must install devices that are 5 dB quieter. From January 1, 2026, devices must be 10 dB quieter than required by EU regulations; otherwise, they will not be eligible for funding. 10 dB corresponds approximately to a halving of the volume. Systems without funding are not affected.
| Rated heat output (n) | EU limit according to Ecodesign Regulation 813/2013 | Eligible until end of 2025 (-5 dB) | Eligible from 2026 (-10 dB) |
| 0 < n ≤ 6 kW | 65 dBA | 60 dBA | 55 dBA |
| 6 < n ≤ 12 kW | 70 dBA | 65 dBA | 60 dBA |
| 12 < n ≤ 30 kW | 78 dBA | 73 dBA | 68 dBA |
| 30 < n ≤ 70 kW | 88 dBA | 83 dBA | 78 dBA |
Emissions, Immissions
The legal requirements for funding are independent of noise protection regulations and structured differently. Noise protection regulations continue to apply unchanged. As they exist to protect third parties, their values apply at the point of reception, for example, at the neighbors' bedroom window. These are therefore immission values. These values can be calculated in advance from the emissions using simple distance formulas. For many manufacturers, sound level values at different distances are also available in tabular form for simplification. If in doubt, the installation specialist will clarify with a simulator whether the immissions are acceptable.
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The EU regulation, on the other hand, regulates sound at the point of origin, independent of noise protection. So it's about emission values. And the national German funding regulation adds another layer with its requirement: those who want taxpayer money must install devices that are significantly quieter than this requirement. So, if you find a particularly inexpensive heat pump that can be sold in the EU according to Ecodesign requirements but is not eligible for funding due to its noise level, you can install this device but will not receive any funding for it.
In practice
The Ecodesign Directive has been in place for over 10 years, and the funding conditions have also been in the update of the Federal Funding for Efficient Buildings (BEG) from the beginning, which appeared together with the amendment of the Building Energy Act (GEG) under the then Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection Robert Habeck (“Habeck's Heating Hammer,” according to Bild newspaper). Therefore, there are practically no new devices on the German market that do not comply with these requirements.
In our upcoming market overview, among 44 models with a rated heat output of 12 +-1 kW, there was no device that could not meet the requirements for 2026. This includes the affordable Midea M thermal mono, which is offered in the 12 kW performance class, including a heating control unit and a 9 kW auxiliary heater, for a fair €6,500. In this respect, no one really needs to worry.
Outlook 2028
Contrary to all announcements, the government has not changed anything about the heating laws so far, so you should best assume that the decided rules will remain in place for now. The next tightening of funding rules will come in 2028. Then, eligible devices will have to use natural refrigerants such as propane (R290). Here too, practically all newly designed devices on the European market are already built with this change in mind, so we will likely be able to simply copy-paste the last sentence from the previous paragraph at the end of 2027.
(cgl)
