Quietest Heat Pumps in NZ: How to Find a Quiet One

A quiet heat pump is mostly about the indoor unit, because that’s the part you sleep next to. The good news is that the quietest wall units sold in New Zealand now run at around 18 to 20 dBA on their slowest fan. That’s quieter than a typical quiet home.

The catch is that brands measure and publish these figures in different ways, so a straight number-to-number comparison can send you the wrong way. Before you weigh up two models, it pays to know what each figure is actually measuring.

What do the dBA figures on a heat pump mean?

dBA is a sound level in decibels, weighted to match how our ears hear. Some context helps: about 30 dBA is a typical quiet home, 50 dBA is the inside of a quiet car while driving, 60 dBA is a normal conversation, and 75 dBA is a vacuum cleaner.

You’ll find sound figures in two places:

• The energy label. The house icon at the bottom shows noise at full power. Showing noise is optional in New Zealand, so plenty of labels leave it off. Where it’s shown, it’s measured with the unit running flat out on cooling, so it’s the loudest the unit gets, not what you’ll hear most of the time.
• The brochure or spec sheet. This usually lists a range, from the top fan speed down to the slowest or quiet setting. The lowest indoor figure is the one people quote, and it’s only true at that slowest fan speed.

So an 18 dBA unit isn’t 18 dBA all the time. It’s 18 dBA when it’s barely ticking over, like once a bedroom is warm and the unit is just holding the temperature.

What is the quietest heat pump in NZ?

These are the lowest indoor sound levels published for current wall units, as at 25 October 2026. Outdoor figures are shown where the same page gives one.

A few things to watch when you read that table:

• One or two dBA is close to a tie. The top six sit within about two dBA of each other at their slowest speed. On a living room wall you’d struggle to pick the difference. At 3am in a bedroom, you might.
• Mode matters. Some figures are for heating and some for cooling. In winter you want the heating figure.
• Size matters more than brand. On the Gree Kea AI, the smallest size starts at 19 dBA and the largest at 29 dBA. A bigger unit moves more air and makes more noise.

Daikin, Hitachi and Panasonic don’t publish a dBA figure for their current wall units on their New Zealand sites, so they’re not in the table. That doesn’t mean they’re loud. Ask the installer for the spec sheet of the exact model and compare it the same way.

→ Related: Mitsubishi Electric heat pumps, Toshiba heat pumps, Carrier heat pumps, Gree heat pumps, Haier heat pumps, Rinnai heat pumps, Fujitsu and General heat pumps

How do I choose a quiet heat pump for a bedroom?

Bedrooms are where the low numbers earn their keep. When you’re comparing quotes:

1. Ask for the heating figure at the slowest fan speed for the exact model and size on the quote, not the range’s headline number.
2. Check the size is right. A unit sized for the room can settle down to its quiet speed once the room is warm. An oversized one is a bigger, louder unit for no gain, and an undersized one runs hard all night (see what size heat pump you need).
3. Look for a quiet or sleep mode you can switch on from the remote at bedtime.
4. Think about where the air goes. A wall unit blowing straight at the bed is draughty, and you notice its sound more. Talk to the installer about the spot on the wall.
5. Ask about the hum as well as the level. A steady low hum can bother a light sleeper more than a slightly higher, smoother sound. If you can, listen to the same model running in a showroom or a friend’s house.

For a child’s room or a nursery, the same rules apply. Small rooms usually need the smallest size in a range, which is also the quietest.

Which heat pumps have a quiet mode?

Most current wall units have some form of quiet setting. A few examples:

• Daikin Alira X: Quiet mode drops the sound level by 2 to 3 dBA in heating and cooling.
• Rinnai Pro Series 2: quiet operation slows both the fan and the compressor, which helps the outdoor unit as well as the indoor one.
• General Lifestyle: Super Quiet mode runs the indoor fan at a low speed.
• Hitachi airHome 600: Silent mode uses curved fan blades to cut the buffeting noise at slow speeds. The airCore 700 ducted range has a night quiet setting for the outdoor unit.

Quiet modes trade some heat for less noise, so they suit a room that’s already warm. Fan speeds and timers for the rest of the day are covered in winter heat pump settings.

Does the outdoor unit noise matter?

Yes, mainly for your neighbours and for any bedroom window near the unit. Outdoor units are much louder than indoor ones, somewhere in the mid forties and up to around 60 dBA on the figures above, and they often run hardest on cold nights when district plan noise limits are at their tightest. If the unit is going outside a bedroom window, that’s the number you’ll hear. Compare the outdoor figure as well as the indoor one, and plan the spot before the install. Council rules, placement and fixing a noisy unit are covered in heat pump noise.

Who can fit a quiet heat pump near me?

Pick the brand you’re leaning towards to see installers who fit it, or start with the comparison of the best heat pump brands in NZ. For a single bedroom or lounge, browse installers of high-wall heat pumps, or find installers in your town.

A good unit in the wrong spot will still keep you awake. A mid-table unit mounted thoughtfully often won’t.