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Original poster

Low level hum worse at night

78 replies

Fandabadobie · 14/01/2023 01:14

I am experiencing a noise that I can hear at night like a low level humming. I thought it was just my ears and maybe tinnitus, but a friend stayed over and they heard it too. What could it be? When I put my ear to the wall I can hear it.. I can also hear it in the bathroom when I put my ear to the party wall. I don't know them well enough to ask them by it sounds like a generator. What could it be? I'm too high in the loft to expect it to be the sound of their fridge
Any suggestions??

OP posts:
Sunsetintheeast · 15/01/2023 00:29

We had this! Drove me mad.

It was my DD electric toothbrush charger. The noise carried through the wall and seemed to amplify.

Ariela · 15/01/2023 00:35

My friend's neighbours have just replaced the septic tank and the new waste processing unit has a pump or fan running 24/7. Unfortunately the vent to the unit faces a curved wall which exactly reflects back to their bedroom window, meaning in summer she has to keep it shut. Could it be something like that?

mrsfollowill · 15/01/2023 00:52

We have a dehumidifier on all night (and day) in winter plus fans in the bedrooms to produce white noise on purpose- to be fair the dehumdifer is needed for the damp. I can't sleep in silence - DS can't either (DH would drop asleep draped over the washing line!) so this is what we do. I also wear one earplug to drown the snoring out - such a glam life I lead!

mrsfollowill · 15/01/2023 00:53

sorry - my message meant to say make your own white noise then you won't notice anything else!

crackofdoom · 15/01/2023 01:02

I had this suddenly start a few years ago- in my case it sounded exactly like a diesel car idling outside....there was no car. It drove me mad for several nights.

Then I went to stay at a boyfriend's several miles away in a seaside town....and the noise was still there but worse.

The next day I went down to the harbour and noticed a dredger operating there. It was that. Making that actual noise. That had carried over 5 miles to my house inland.

AdoraBell · 15/01/2023 01:07

In our previous house it was the heating pump in the airing cupboard. I could only hear at night, the pump was literally next to the bed and it drove me mad.

blablablagobshite · 15/01/2023 01:33

Another one here for an electric toothbrush charger. It took me months to suss it out though.

Talipesmum · 15/01/2023 09:56

Sunsetintheeast · 15/01/2023 00:29

We had this! Drove me mad.

It was my DD electric toothbrush charger. The noise carried through the wall and seemed to amplify.

Yes, same. Can only hear it in the next room to the charger, but when plugged in it hums, whether it’s charging or not. Really annoyed me till I investigated one night. It’s not so bad now I know what it is.

UncleQuentinsWife · 15/01/2023 10:06

That Wikipedia article about the hum was fascinating @EmmaEmerald . I've never heard of the hum before.

Moomoo2o22 · 15/01/2023 10:37

If you can only hear it indoors it probably is some type of appliance next door but if it's something you can hear outdoors too it could be something like a moblie phone mast. We have one at the top of our street and it hums all day it's louder at night it drives us crazy you can hear it for miles because the cables that run from it underground vibrate causing a hum. it's bothering a lot of people in our area at the moment the council pretend not to know what it is, it's really annoying!

whirlyhead · 15/01/2023 15:32

I have the same issue, only audible in bathroom and one part of kitchen. I spent months trying to work it out, then eventually asked the neighbour if they had anything on that wall. Turns out it’s their dryer which seems to be permanently on. Their electricity bill must be horrendous.

Original poster
Fandabadobie · 16/01/2023 06:11

Sunsetintheeast · 15/01/2023 00:29

We had this! Drove me mad.

It was my DD electric toothbrush charger. The noise carried through the wall and seemed to amplify.

Could be this couldn't it? It's quite loud though and the walls are concrete it seems, but a good explanation none the less as it is always on in summer and winter. I'll have to test this with mine

OP posts:
Original poster
Fandabadobie · 16/01/2023 06:12

I have a radio alarm that is plugged in behind my bed head. That may have some sort of effect. It's one of those that has a back up in built batteries in case of a power cut

OP posts:
Oblomov22 · 16/01/2023 06:21

Poor you. I've had this, drove me nutty, but Dh couldn't hear anything. I do think I have over sensitive hearing, I can hear things others can't, and this is actually a major disadvantage, not a blessing at all.

Sunsetintheeast · 16/01/2023 06:59

I’d turn the whole house off at the fuse box and then try each fuse at a time.

… this is why it drive me mad! I HAD to know

Good luck

Whatmarbles · 16/01/2023 07:02

Do you live anywhere near wind turbines?

There was one near us that used to hum until they replaced the motor.

Original poster
Fandabadobie · 16/01/2023 17:20

Whatmarbles · 16/01/2023 07:02

Do you live anywhere near wind turbines?

There was one near us that used to hum until they replaced the motor.

Nope.

OP posts:
IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads · 16/01/2023 20:19

It's not near Halifax is it?

TwoBlondes · 16/01/2023 20:24

I had double glazing that hummed

Original poster
Fandabadobie · 17/01/2023 14:58

IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads · 16/01/2023 20:19

No.

When lying in the bath it's worse. But their bath is directly the other side of the wall so I can't see them having something constantly on in there, or a wall mounted charging toothbrush. The houses are so old they don't even have a plug socket for a shaver@

OP posts:
Foxywood · 17/01/2023 18:00

If you hear it in the bath it’s probably something to do with water heating.

RollerCoaster2020 · 17/01/2023 18:07

I had this in a rented house. Thought it was tinnitus! Then a neighbour and my DP heard it, and I managed (On a really quiet day) to download an app that showed a sound map. It was on the chart - around 5-15Hz.
Did a lot of research -- most likely reason is the house was built on "Raft Foundations" (Basically floating) on an old marsh. There was a 24" huge water pipe that runs under the house which was pumped from half a mile away, but the sound travelled up the pipe.
May be worth contacting local water and sewage companies to get a layout of large (Not just domestic) pipes to see if that may be it.??

DaffodilSunshine · 17/01/2023 18:18

I was going to suggest shaver/electric toothbrush socket in a bathroom mirror. Mine hums when on

HumourReplacementTherapy · 17/01/2023 18:58

I have this too but I think in my case it's tinnitus.
I've just downloaded a free app and the sound in my living room (now I've nudged the cat enough to stop snoring) is around 40DB equivalent to bird calls 🤔
It drives me mad. Like a constant diesel engine but there is a dual carriageway way 3 roads away so I'm never sure.
It's never silent enough to test for tinnitus if I'm somewhere else.
I'll have to go out to the countryside!

thekaratekid · 17/01/2023 19:17

We had a neighbour (previous house) complain about an "electrical humming/buzzong" in the early hours of the morning.. apparently coming from our side of the party wall. It could only be coming from our side apparently, very disturbing and keeping him awake. We had newly moved in, were quite concerned and duly investigated thoroughly...loft, walls, plug sockets. Absolutely nothing was against the party wall or near the wall which was causing the supposed noise. Complete silence. Turned out neighbour was a heavy weed smoker and tended towards paranoid controlling behaviours. We assumed tinnitus or some sort of auditory hallucination. Thankfully as you have witnesses OP, you can be assured you aren't experiencing either. 😅

Have you got any pipes running along the outside wall of the house? Copper boiler pipes or similar? Sometimes in high winds the pipes on the side of our current house make a weird rumbling as the wind moves through the gap between pipe and brick.