Another neighbours and hot tub one

[nooverheadlighting]

I would love anyone's input here. AIBU to be really upset over my neighbour's new inflatable hot tub? For context, we are a family of four in a family neighbourhood. We do make some noise but just the usual family stuff. Sometimes music practice, singing etc can be heard from the garden but we mostly shut windows etc. Our children play in the garden too, but never late and not excessively.
Basically, we're really sensitive to our neighbour's noise dislikes as they live alone and have said they don't like the sound of children.
However, they have recently acquired a hot tub and it is driving me insane. We don't have big gardens. Ours is around 7m across and theirs 3.5m across. This means the tub cannot be positioned more than 0.5m from our boundary fence. It's on all the time, 24/7 with a hum that's impossible to tune out. We can also hear it from bathroom, kitchen and two back bedrooms if the windows are open.
We told neighbour this and at first they were fairly amenable, building a soundproof box to encase the pump. But it's barely made any difference and we're bathed in the sound as soon as we step outside. Neighbour has said it's just like a fridge and that we should get used to it as they've had to get used to our children. Literally, as in you have laughing, babbling, crying children, I have a hot tub, c'est la vie. Which has made me feel really sad because comparing children to a hot tub is just mean?!
Plus, our children are not outside all the time.. older one no more than an hour or so during the week, little one maybe more but always supervised and rushed indoors as soon as they make a grumpy sound (but apparently even joyful sounds have to be 'tolerated').
We haven't asked for the tub to be removed, just to be able to aid in building an improved sound dampener, with an expert if necessary. We are being friendly but honest in sharing how we feel because it's literally ruining our outside space. It's much louder than a fridge.. more like a substation. Our youngest says 'zzzzzz', making the sound of it when we go outdoors.
We don't want to fall out with neighbour any more than this and moving from this otherwise lovely neighbourhood seems rash and expensive.
What would you do??

I’d start collecting windchimes. Big fuck-off windchimes.

I was going to say hot tubs aren't generally that noisy when the jets are off but if the tub is only half a metre from your house and you're wanting to have windows open in during summer, I can see why that's annoying. If it's interrupting your sleep, I think it's fair to go back to them and see whether you can reach a compromise. I do think if they don't have kids and they have never complained about your's being noisy, they do have a point that it's give and take, part and parcel of living with neighbours.

Well there's not much you can do about the noise from them unfortunately, I think it's something you will have to learn to live with, but I certainly wouldn't stop my children from playing/having fun/making noise in their own garden.

I'd stop being an entitled idiot who wants to bully the neighbourhood.

Your neighbours have been more than reasonable boxing in the pump.

However, you want your little darlings to be able to play in the garden and have fun and practise their instruments.

Just how much does that impact your neighbours?

Oh, but your DCs are cute and babbling with joyous fun and laughter.

No they're not.

They probably impinge on any quiet delight your neighbours had in their garden. In fact the hum of the pump probably helps drown out your little darlings.

You always get someone on these threads who says "But why doesn't everyone buy a detached house?. I don't understand it at all. I live in one!"

What an utter waste of resources that would be . . .

I think you should check out the council's advice on sound levels. A 24/7 continuous drone seems a lot to tolerate. Also, as some people here say not every pump is noisy, maybe your neighbours bought a cheap one from China? And yes let your children play outside as they wish, let them have waterballoon fights and playdates. You should absolute not keep your children inside because your neighbours don't like children. If this would be true, you could ask your neighbours to put their hot-tub inside too.....

Get noisy. You have considered their needs, they are not considering yours.

Buy one yourself. If you can't beat them, join them! The kids will love it.

I just personally struggle to compare the sound of people, which I think of us as being evolved to tolerate, to a nonstop electrical drone. I honestly enjoy the sound of other people getting on and living their lives in normal social hours but this feels invasive in a whole other way.

Being able to tolerate family noise when you live in one is not more 'evolved' or superior. Its nice that you enjoy what you enjoy, but massively entitled to decide that the sort of noise they make is not ok, but whatever noise you make is. Stop focusing on it, obsessing about it will make it seem more pronounced.

Yeah, no. I know which noise I’d prefer, and have tolerated better, and it’s not in your favour. Continous single pitch (aka white noise) vs children. I think parents are able intrinsically to almost block out the sounds of their own children, but it’s really not comparable.

I wish my neighbours would get windchimes. I want to get some but I don't want to be obnoxious either. At least if they get them, I get windchimes without having to worry about whether I'm annoying the neighbours. I like them.

I'd love to know how anyone's affording to run one these days. My BIL had one and it ate electricity. Plus the chemicals are annoying to get right

Yes!

Yabu. I think their noise is preferable to yours tbh, a low hum vs sporadic noise from kids. They may be relaxing in their garden when boom, your kids wake them up! A low hum should be tolerable. I live under a flight path, I just got used to the noise. Obviously we'd all like to live in a country mansion but that's not going to happen!

So rude!
The children are a fact of life, a hot tub is not.

Even noisy children are intermittent, and seldom all night.

My neighbours have both, but they don't keep either running all of the time. (although flying footballs are frequent)

All those saying they’ll soon get rid of it after the first bill……

we have one - it’s our second. If you can afford close to 15,000 on a tub you can afford the £3 per day to run it! And to fill they only cost about a tenner!

I thought the same @ScottishScouser but the one in the op is an inflatable one which cost a few hundred I think, not sure but considerably less than a hard shell one.
Ours cost a lot but I do think it’s so well insulated that it barely loses any heat, dh thinks it costs less than £2 a day! Well, he thinks our bill went up by about £50 a month which in the grand scheme of things is nothing really. The chemicals cost maybe £30 a month (really guessing here, it’s dhs domain), but i generally use it alone for about half an hour to an hour 4-5 times a week to in the evening around 9pm. My neighbours son is usually playing guitar around that time so i think our noise cancels out each other.
Basically its not that expensive to run at all, plenty of people can afford to keep a hot tub maintained and clean and hot.
I think I’d feel differently if it were costing £30 a day!!

Start making as much noise as you want.

@OldPerson a human has rights, a hot tub does not.
I wonder how many friends you have.

I feel for you op, a lot of people saying they don’t make noise, it’s nothing to worry about etc are hot tub owners. My neighbour installed one and luckily built a shed around it. I heard that low level humming and almost like the floor vibrating and we are detached. I am fairly noise phobic and found it awful but didn’t complain. I personally don’t like hot tubs and think that it’s inconsiderate not to think of the impact on your neighbours when purchasing them and deciding where to place them and how to house them. Luckily, my neighbour moved and took their hot tub with them 😊. I am hoping that your neighbours decide it’s too expensive to run and remove it soon🤞.

@TheChosenTwo

THANKS. I’d missed the blowup part.

We call them paddling pools. Really annoys the owners of the “hot tub”.

OP, I feel very sorry for you and understand how upsetting this must be. Your quiet space has been impacted by unnecessary noise, which has taken some peace away from your life. Not only are you having to deal with the noise, but now you are having to put up with a difficult neighbour too. In my opinion, you should be able to enjoy your space how you like, be that with your children or on your own with a book, and the sound of music practice should not be made to worry you either. That just makes learning less enjoyable if you are only worried about how good you sound or how loud you are. I can not help you specifically, but my heart goes out to you, and I really hope you can find a way to get rid of the noise. Also, no one should compare your children to a hot tub, that is just unkind and rude.

You're an unreasonable joy sponge. Sorry! Let people enjoy their lives just as you make sounds from your lives too.

The answer to noise you dont like, IS NOT to generate more noise out of spite. I ca not belive how nasty and petty some of these comments are.