Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

My house hums and it's driving me crazy

38 replies

WhiteGrapeandPeachJuice · 08/05/2025 06:18

Does anyone else's house hum??? Like a low level electrical buzz constantly. Not coming from any particular or obvious appliances. Just present everywhere.

At night if I wake up that's all I can hear. It's like a tinnitus sound (I don't have tinnitus although i am sensitive to sound and energy), and so the vibration of the sound means earplugs don't do a thing. I can hear it in every room.

As I sit here now in the kitchen having been awake most of the night I can hear it.

I am sure its not my hearing as in other places I don't hear this at all. It's just that my house feels like it has a vibration that is literally tormenting me!

Anyone else encountered this and found a solution?

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Netamount · 08/05/2025 21:47

We had a very quiet vibrating sound, and realised it was a shelf of glasses / bottles being vibrated by the fridge.

Thepossibility · 08/05/2025 21:38

I had a fridge that hummed.

Walkden · 08/05/2025 21:37

Electric off is a good shout. Often buzzing Can be voltage converters like phone chargers door bell chimes etc should fade once electric is off and capacitors in them have had time to discharge.

WhatMothersDo22 · 08/05/2025 21:36

I started hearing this a few weeks back and did a lot of scouring the internet. Have you heard of The Hum? It’s a low frequency noise that only some of us hear (lucky us). Frequently caused by just general hum of industrial/human activity. Not helpful I know but maybe the source?

NeverDropYourMooncup · 08/05/2025 21:34

How sure are you that it isn't Tinnitus? Have you actually sat in a soundproofed room for long enough to be sure you haven't got it?

Sofasloth · 08/05/2025 21:31

I bet it's a neighbours heat pump, they can be very noisy. We have one on a road near us and you can hear it from the other end of the street, a bit like a car lulling. It would drive me crazy!

Tulipvase · 08/05/2025 21:28

It won’t resolve the cause but I’d try a fan overnight. It cancels out loads of irritating noises. I can’t sleep without one now though……

BollickyBill · 08/05/2025 21:25

My old house did this or so I thought. We investigated this extensively and I had DH "convinced" he could hear it too but he couldn't. He just told me to make be feel better. In the end it was tinnitus. I have bad tinnitus and it's in my ears all the time

LittleGreenDuck · 08/05/2025 21:22

Do you live near Bristol? The Bristol hum is well known.

DwayneTheRockJohnson · 08/05/2025 21:13

Google ‘the hum’. It’s more prevalent in some areas of the country and some people can hear it more than others. My husband and mother in law hear it all the time. Could be that?

ArminTamzerian · 08/05/2025 20:55

I have a hum...in my house it's the solar panels. Noone else can hear it apparently, I don't know how 🤷‍♀️

MoominMai · 08/05/2025 20:52

Yes I have a 1960s link detached and recently became aware of a very low hum in the bedroom. It’s the oddest thing!

lachance · 08/05/2025 20:22

You need to watch “the Listeners” I think
its on bbc. This is the exact plotline!

Chazbots · 08/05/2025 07:43

The boiler used to be on continuous pumping too, after it was installed, but I worked that out and changed the settings.

Chazbots · 08/05/2025 07:42

I can hear this in my house and I do think it's a neighbour's hot tub on the rinse cycle at night.

Seymourscat · 08/05/2025 07:42

I often hear a low level hum. It’s not my house. I’m just sensitive to something outside. Some people are. It can drive me nuts but I’m learning to live with it.

FloraBotticelli · 08/05/2025 07:40

Oh yes, hot tubs are the worst! My neighbour 2 doors and an alleyway away has theirs on in the summer.

On EMFs - there’s grounding mats you can get, and lots of walking outside barefoot is good for you (on the earth - soil/grass/sand, not concrete-man made material).

Original poster
WhiteGrapeandPeachJuice · 08/05/2025 07:39

youcannaecallherfanny · 08/05/2025 07:37

does anyone have a hot tub near you?

Not that I'm aware of. We have tiny gardens!

OP posts:
Original poster
WhiteGrapeandPeachJuice · 08/05/2025 07:38

330ml · 08/05/2025 07:36

Turn the main electricity switch off and see if the noise stops.

Show quote history

Thanks I'll try this later.

OP posts:
youcannaecallherfanny · 08/05/2025 07:37

does anyone have a hot tub near you?

330ml · 08/05/2025 07:36

WhiteGrapeandPeachJuice · 08/05/2025 07:34

Thanks for this. Who would I be able to check this with?

Show quote history

Turn the main electricity switch off and see if the noise stops.

NestEmptying · 08/05/2025 07:35

Cosyblankets · 08/05/2025 06:23

We thought we had an electrical hum one time.....it was a bees' nest!

Same! We had a bees nest in the loft above DDs bedroom. We thought it was an electric hum for days before we saw bees flying outside and clicked.

Original poster
WhiteGrapeandPeachJuice · 08/05/2025 07:34

Jabtastic · 08/05/2025 07:28

If it's a newish house it can be the positive pressure pump they put in now for ventilation etc.

Thanks for this. Who would I be able to check this with?

OP posts:
330ml · 08/05/2025 07:33

I don’t hear it but DH does. It nearly drove him mad when it started. Once he established the noise wasn’t from inside the house, he drove around the locality at night looking for the source of the noise which he was convinced was diesel engines. He can hear it now. All I can hear is birds singing.

He dealt with it by just accepting it. It isn’t in his head because he doesn’t hear it everywhere, just where we live.

Original poster
WhiteGrapeandPeachJuice · 08/05/2025 07:32

CharlotteBakewell · 08/05/2025 06:31

Do you live in a semi or detached?

Detached but lots of houses in close proximity. Like a new(ish) build estate

OP posts: