[bklaasen]

Don't you find the background rumble of the air in the vents very enervating? I was in a friend's place with a heat pump, and I felt like I was inside a badly tuned organ. Lots of atonal near-subsonic rumbling. I think heat pump vendors need to learn about acoustics: standing waves, reverberation, phase interference.

[kencausey]

That is not likely to having anything to do with being a heat pump. That is probably just the consequences of the blower, the length of ducts, how they are mounted, etc.

[positr0n]

Is a heat pump any different from regular air conditioning in that regard?

I'm from an area of the country where you run the AC 8 months out of the year so this question is weird to me unless somehow a heat pump (reverse AC) is different than an AC pump running normally.

[CincinnatiMan]

My two heat pumps aren’t too bad. The airflow is the same as the AC, meaning sound is present but no rumbling.

[thedougd]

There are hydronic heat pump systems available as well.