Neighbours buzzing hot tub

[Shibby585]

Next door have decided to get a permanent hot tub installed on their deck a couple of weeks ago and since then I can hear a none stop hum within my house 24/7.

The fence got taken down to put it in, it still hasn't been put back up so I've had no privacy, they've also been using the hot tub during this time with no fence which I've found really awkward when putting washing out.

The low frequency hum drives me mental, I tried to approach next door and got told it wasn't their hot tub making the noise and told they refused to do anything about this. Aibu to expect a resolution to this and not have to sit in my house listening to it humming all day.

Would the local authority do anything? I've read up and believe the deck is acting like a drum and resonating in my house. It's not actually loud outside but in my house it's a constant low drone that is awful. I can no longer sit in my house in peace, I have to turn the TV up to drown it out and take tablets on a night to sleep or try to mask it.

OP shouldn't have to sit in her home with the doors and windows shut tight in nice weather because there is a constant noise from her neighbours.

They would turn it off quickly enough if you put dog poo in it, not that I suggest that as an option.

You have asked nicely, they have made up a fictional reason not to. Reasonable to contact Environmental Health.

I am petty so I'd get a shit load of wind chimes and put them up near the gap in the fence. I'd also mow the lawn every time they were in the hot tub and encourage my DC to gawk.

We have 2 hot tubs. One in our house in the U.K., one in our house in Spain. Trust me, it doesn’t cost £500 to drain it.

[quote Shibby585]@Hteng so massive over estimation because she didn't want to empty it and resolve? I asked her to turn it of for 5 to 10 mins just to confirm it was the tub I was told it would cost £15 to power it off for that long :/[/quote]
It would cost nothing to switch off for 10 minutes, most hot tubs shouldn't actually run 24/7 they should cycle on and off every hour or so, if it's not been used and well insulated it should only run for a couple of minutes to filter then stop, if it's actually running 24/7 it'll be costing a fortune

It must be awful, I was just going to mention tinnitus, I have horrible bad tinnitus, its all the time, day and night, and it feels like a loud drone sound in my head. it never stops, and stops me sleeping properly.

Shouting and screaming at you? She definitely deserve some dog shit lobbed in her hot tub.

@MaudieandMe I couldn't have put it better myself, sometimes I tune it out and I'm like oh it's quiet I can't hear it because I've tuned out as best as I can, then I will tune back in and pick it up again. Its so much worse on an evening when there isn't as much outside noise to drown it out.

@Northernsoullover

You've been given bad advice here. Ring your council. The decibel nonsense is not true. A Yorkshire Terrier could be deemed a statutory nuisance.

My neighbours have Yorkshire Terrier and a hot tub 😡

@Hteng would it be a filter or motor going 24/7 i obviously haven't asked them the settings they have on due to how we left thingd, but I was out in the garden playing with my daughter yesterday and it was none stop humming, so it doesn't seem like it's ticking over it seems like it's going constantly.

I'd love to know what it is about draining their hot tub that costs £500?! I suspect they're bullshitting you - our permanent hot tub costs us nothing to drain, and the cost of the hot water to refill. Suspect they are bullshitting you.

I can't imagine a deck is a particularly sturdy base for it, and I bet the noise is annoying them too and they're just too stubborn to admit it. Ours sits on a plastic drainage surface thing, on top of concrete. (And is rarely on given energy prices!!!)

Ignore those saying the Council can’t do anything about it. Yes they can. It doesn’t have to be louder than everything else but it does have to be unreasonable to the average person. The section of the act that includes noise also includes vibration. You need Environmental Health to sort it if your neighbours are not approachable.

You need windchimes, lots of them and a bbq that cooks fish or whatever smells the mosts.

Yes. Wind chimes. BBQ... Incense. That really ripe fertilizer.

Our neighbours have a hot tub along the boundary fence, constant humming they only used it three times last year for half hour but the humming is annoying
We bought a three tier water fountain and placed it against our fence, it’s noisy and drowns out the hum, fountain is on all day and it’s a lot noisier than hot tub buzz

Unless they are minted it will soon be waaaay too expensive to run at all.

@Shibby585 it will be the motor humming you are hearing as they go 24/7. In between you will notice a louder humming of a cleaning cycle being initiated.

They sound like right arses. As they're clearly unreasonable I'd fight fire with fire. Get something that makes a constant, louder, hum and put it against the fence. Plus a noisy water fountain, loads of wind chimes, maybe a bird scarer too?

Unless they have tapped into a secret (free) power supply , they will soon turn it off when they receive their first electricity bill .

They sound awful and v unreasonable. I would be hanging lots of wind chimes near by including some of those huge bamboo ones whilst setting up a table and chairs right in view if it and sitting out all day occasionally shouting “ nice day for it “ when they use it … the fence will soon go back up .
On a serious note .. yes report to environmental health .. it is a nuisance and it’s affecting your quality of life

Yeah, I think the new energy prices will work on your favour OP!

@OfstedOffred

I'm sorry OP but while I totally understand your points regarding low frequency vibration being able to permeate into building, I'm just not sure I believe that your neighbours hot tub is clearly audible through the brick walls of your house, over your television, when you are indoors, with doors and windows fully closed.

Why on earth would OP make it up!

I’m so sorry OP. I experienced the same thing with neighbours last year. Horrid loud things they are. The thrumming made it unbearable to be outside and it got through the walls to affect inside too.

I bought an expensive pair of noise cancelling headphones which perversely caused terrible tinnitus I’m still living with now.

We moved house.

You poor thing! Our neighbours bought one last year - it was dreadful. It’s mouldy now and they barely use it… the novelty soon wore off! Let’s hope the same happens with your neighbours. Good luck to you

[quote Shibby585]@Hteng would it be a filter or motor going 24/7 i obviously haven't asked them the settings they have on due to how we left thingd, but I was out in the garden playing with my daughter yesterday and it was none stop humming, so it doesn't seem like it's ticking over it seems like it's going constantly.[/quote]
Obviously every hottub is different but I've never known one to constantly run.

Vast majority are set by dip switches on the circuit board, the general setup will be once its powered on for the first time it'll run through its test and prime then start heating the water, once that's at temp it'll shut off the heater and pump, then every hour or 2 it'll fire up the circulation pump for 1 or 2 minutes if the temperature is below the preset it'll run the pump and heater until its back to temp. 12 hours after the initial power on it'll run a filtration cycle this varies depending on size of tub, most domestic ones will be approx 2 hours, after this it'll go back to the hourly cycle until the same time it was initially turned on and repeat the cycle. So that was a very long way of saying it should run for 2 hours or so at 12 hr intervals and a few minutes in between.

I am v sensitive to noise and white noise machines have been my salvation on this front.
I have one in each room and set them to a pitch that masks all outside noise. They are v cheap to run so no running up big bills and they almost create a soothing bubble that insulates against stressful noise. Might be worth a shot.