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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:
OnMyWayToSenility · 17/01/2023 19:20

DaffodilSunshine · 17/01/2023 18:18

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

Yes mine too! Have to unplug mine at night

PremiumTV · 17/01/2023 19:38

It might be the radiator valve. If it's a TRV and it gets slightly wonky when adjusting the temperature, then it has a humming or whistling sort of noise, very soft but high pitched

Original poster
Fandabadobie · 18/01/2023 17:36

Foxywood · 17/01/2023 18:00

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

They have a boiler, but it cannot be running 24/7/365 winter or summer can it.

OP posts:
Original poster
Fandabadobie · 18/01/2023 17:37

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.??

@RollerCoaster2020
I absolutely need that app!! Do you know which one to download please?

OP posts:
Original poster
Fandabadobie · 18/01/2023 17:40

DaffodilSunshine · 17/01/2023 18:18

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

They would have had to have a socket out in for this. The house is 90 years old, it certainly wasn't built with one installed

OP posts:
Original poster
Fandabadobie · 18/01/2023 17:42

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!

@HumourReplacementTherapy
Have you got the name of this app please?

OP posts:
Talipesmum · 18/01/2023 17:42

Fandabadobie · 18/01/2023 17:40

They would have had to have a socket out in for this. The house is 90 years old, it certainly wasn't built with one installed

Show quote history

Anyone can get one put in though - it’s very easy. We added one into the bathroom when we had it re-done.

DaffodilSunshine · 18/01/2023 17:43

Yes, that's what I was saying. My house is 110 years old but I installed a bathroom mirror that has a built in shaver socket. The transformer for the socket hums whenever the socket is switched on, which it usually is 24/7 as the toothbrush charger is plugged in. It's a really common thing with mirrors like that

imnottoofussed · 18/01/2023 17:45

I had this and it was the neighbours fish tank that had been moved nearer to the party wall

bigbluebus · 18/01/2023 17:52

We had a new LED lit bathroom cabinet installed in our ensuite last year. It makes a constant low level buzzing noise. It was really irritating at first but we don't really notice it now. The shaver socket does the same thing when it's got a toothbrush plugged into it to charge (other bathroom). Could it be something like that?

Original poster
Fandabadobie · 18/01/2023 18:16

DaffodilSunshine · 18/01/2023 17:43

Yes, that's what I was saying. My house is 110 years old but I installed a bathroom mirror that has a built in shaver socket. The transformer for the socket hums whenever the socket is switched on, which it usually is 24/7 as the toothbrush charger is plugged in. It's a really common thing with mirrors like that

It's possible it's this, but would it radiate to upstairs too? I can hear it at night

OP posts:
DrNo007 · 18/01/2023 18:19

I suggest turning off the electricity into the house at the main consumer unit for a couple of minutes to see if you still hear it.

Pradapopsyloulou · 18/01/2023 22:15

We’ve had this. We’ve had the plumber in searching the roof space and checking all the pipes. Lots of other people hear it where I live but is unexplained.

Giggorata · 18/01/2023 22:28

We have the Hum where we live. I can hear it but DH can't. It comes in phases, we're in one at the moment, and sometimes it isn't heard for a month or so.
It is worse at night, whether that's because everything else quietens down, I don't know.

goingtotown · 20/01/2023 21:53

Dimmer Switch.

cobblers123 · 20/01/2023 22:01

We have the same thing near where I live but it's been put down to the aircraft carrier(s) when in Portsmouth Harbour as they have generators running all the time.

If the wind is in the right direction, I can hear it too and I live further up the water a couple of miles.

dubyalass · 20/01/2023 22:38

Do they have a hot tub? My neighbour had one on decking that was attached to our shared wall (the houses were staggered) and I had to change bedrooms because the humming drove me mad. He's since moved it and the humming has stopped.

BobaTea · 20/01/2023 22:44

A substation nearby? They give out a constant low humming noise.

OldTinHat · 20/01/2023 23:16

cobblers123 · 20/01/2023 22:01

We have the same thing near where I live but it's been put down to the aircraft carrier(s) when in Portsmouth Harbour as they have generators running all the time.

If the wind is in the right direction, I can hear it too and I live further up the water a couple of miles.

Oh! That's very interesting. I wonder if that's what I can hear sometimes.

I heard the Fawley tower come down and that sounded like it was in my back garden! That's 11 miles away. Portsmouth Harbour is about 9 miles (as the crow flies).

Are you near the sea OP? Wind turbines maybe? Sorry if already suggested.

CoffeeWithCheese · 21/01/2023 08:42

Do you have dimmer switches? My mum's hum constantly and it drives me crazy but no one else hears it apart from me.

TwoLeftSocksWithHoles · 21/01/2023 09:54

If it is more of a 'drone' rather than an 'hum' it could be the neighbours constantly moaning about Brexit, covid, the Tory Government, energy prices, supermarket shortages, overhanging trees, delivery drivers, cats crapping in gardens, the Royal Family, fence disputes, dogs barking / jumping up, inconsiderate parking or a different opinion to someone on Mumsnet.

Where do you live? You might be next door to us! 😀

cobblers123 · 21/01/2023 11:07

OldTinHat · 20/01/2023 23:16

Oh! That's very interesting. I wonder if that's what I can hear sometimes.

I heard the Fawley tower come down and that sounded like it was in my back garden! That's 11 miles away. Portsmouth Harbour is about 9 miles (as the crow flies).

Are you near the sea OP? Wind turbines maybe? Sorry if already suggested.

Show quote history

I am right up the top of Portsmouth Harbour and the water is a couple of minutes from my front door. I do hear the noise at times, local people nearer to the harbour area that me often mention it on FB as it is much louder for them.

No wind turbines nearby so I would think definitely the generators on the carriers.

It could also be a hot tub in a garden, I had to use earplugs in the summer if windows were open at night due to one in a neighbouring garden.

RollerCoaster2020 · 21/01/2023 12:06

Fandabadobie · 18/01/2023 17:37

@RollerCoaster2020
I absolutely need that app!! Do you know which one to download please?

Show quote history

I think the one that I had was called phylox. It depends if you're Android or Apple or something else. Maybe you will find something appropriate here. www.makeuseof.com/tag/6-cool-android-apps-sensors/

RollerCoaster2020 · 21/01/2023 12:21

Listen to this from 10 minutes 30 seconds in. If you want a wider picture, listen to the whole thing.

BlueMongoose · 21/01/2023 17:06

Do you have a power station close to you? One place I lived we got a hum, it took years to work out where it came from. First we thought it was the night shift at a local factory. It carried on after they stopped the night shift, so no. Lo0ts of other theories, none came to anything.
We only found out when it stopped- when the local power station closed. We reckoned its generators must have been making a vibration which was spreading through old mine workings. Sometimes you could actually put you hand on the wall and feel a very tiny vibration....
I can't say it bothered me. I used to quite like it, and I missed it when it stopped.