Continual buzzing sound in house

soworried

Hi, I posted in the wrong forum and was directed here. At night, I used to hear a low hum, wouldnt be too bad, didnt do anything about it. However, the last week, this hum is now 24 hours a day and we cannot sleep with it (even with ear plugs).

We are clueless about electrical things and cannot locate the source of the noise. We turned off the main fuse to the house - the noise was still there. We went outside our house and my husband thought he could hear a low hum from wires near our bedroom windows but isnt certain. To our ears, the hum is all over the house and is internal. We went next door and asked if they had been leaviing heating on, if they could hear any noise and said no, both to the heating and noise. However, as the box room is not adjoining their wall and we can hear the noise clearly in that room, we dont think its them. I rang the ESB and they are sendingn someone out next week to us. Bord Gais (I was told to check about pipes) said it sounded electrical to them and not the boiler, which when off, the sound is still present.

My electrician is on holidays right now but I have another electrican, a RECI guy I hope to be able to get out next week. Does anyone have any information, advice? The noise at night is just unbelievable, we havent slept more than a few hours for the last week. We dont really have anyone around that can help us and are both clueless about stuff when it goes wrong in the house. I can hear the noise more than my husband but he is aware of it.

If anyone can help, I would really appreciate it.

Davy

Have you got storage heating? Timeclock beside the esb meter? Have you checked beside your fuse board, where it contains MCBs or older porcelain screw in fuses.

aws

It could be your door bell after sticking on and the solenoid is making the humming noise. Also have come across shaver lights humming if the bulb is not inserted correctly. My advice would be to go to your fuse board and turn off the MCBs one by one starting with 6 or 10A and then 20A, 32A etc, if its electrical the noise will stop when you turn off the correct mcb.

eoghan.geraghty

As you have stated you turned off the main fuse to the house yet the noise remains the problem cannot lie with your household electrics.
Ask the ESB guy to check terminations at your meter and also any terminations outside your house.

davelerave

had a similar problem with a neighbours' fish tank.

duke2009

hey u need to change the contactor in ur fuse box for ur storage heating, itll cost u 50 euor plus labour

Antenna

I do wonder if the OP is genuine what with "Posts: 1".
Is it one of these people trying to stoke up concerns about some people being sensitive to 50Hz magnetic fields?

There is no sensible explanation for what is described in a residential setting. If it was a neaby ESB transformer vibrating, it would be fairly obvious. I have to take it with a pinch of salt.

fred funk }{

Antenna wrote: »

I do wonder if the OP is genuine what with "Posts: 1".
Is it one of these people trying to stoke up concerns about some people being sensitive to 50Hz magnetic fields?

There is no sensible explanation for what is described in a residential setting. If it was a neaby ESB transformer vibrating, it would be fairly obvious. I have to take it with a pinch of salt.

Jesus! I think you're a bit sensitive today

It could well be the alarm panel if you have one. Alarms have back up batteries so they could still hum when the mains is off.
BTW are you sure you turned off the mains and not just the RCD etc. I would switch off every breaker in the fuse board just be sure everything is off.

KoolKid

Antenna wrote: »

I do wonder if the OP is genuine what with "Posts: 1"

Everyone has to make their first post sometime.

Saruman

See this thread, very similar: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055529888

You might see what the outcome is of this or contact the poster who offered to help.

fred funk }{

Saruman wrote: »

See this thread, very similar: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055529888

You might see what the outcome is of this or contact the poster who offered to help.

I think that might be the same poster.

Saruman

probably yes.

dundrum23

Hi folks,

I am hearing a hum in my semi-d house since 24th June. Never heard it before and don't hear it in other places I've stayed for weekends since then...so it's not my ears. Turned off all elect in house on first night, all circuit breakers on fuseboard, hum continued. Repeated that many times since. Have asked lots of neighbours and only next door (not attached) hears it.

People in attached house to mine say they don't hear it. They do have a fish tank up against the parti- wall though. Perhaps that's causing it? However, if so, how would lady in unattached next house hear it too?

It's very annoying. I can sleep through it now as it's lighter but it was so strong for month of July that you could feel it standing on upstairs landing and in bed, not only hear it and so, it was very hard to sleep.

I was grasping at straws - phoned DLRcoco cos it started at same time as Marlay park was getting in gear for summer concerts. My house is about 500m away as the crow flies. They were putting temporary mobile phone towers up and had generators running everywhere in the park. Thought it might be those. The low frequency sound vibrations from those can travel miles. They denied it could be the generators. When Longitude finished (last concerts), the hum got a lot lighter. But it's still there, on and off, all the time.

Had ESB over in early August. Mini-pillar outside neighbours house. They checked - no problem. High tension wire connecting our houses to support virgin media cable along front of house...not that either.

Overall from what I've read and spoken with others about, i'm getting that it's VLF - very low frequency - from a transformer, but more likely from a pump in a neighbours house...water, heating or fish tank pump etc.

What can I do to find out whose house it's coming from and from what item?
I've already called into lots of neighbours beside, opposite and behind and all say they have no freezer or electrics in garden block shed or anything, no pumps.

Could it be Lidl or CRH nearby with all their air-conditioning units whirring or back-up generators? This noise is day and night now but is stronger at night and upstairs?

Any ideas anyone?
I saw a post a month ago and can't find it now...a mechanical engineer was offering to call over to the afflicted persons house to try to figure it out. I need someone to help me like this. Or that engineer.
I've just joined Boards to get help or an answer to this problem.

Thanks

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Sleeper12

Is it a constant noise or intermittent?

dundrum23

Hi sleeper12,

it's on/off but seems now to be all day and all night.

First month or so I was only aware of it at night. It was strong. I was working all day or out on weekends.

Now that i'm tuned into it, I can hear it daytime if i'm home...like now.
It's lighter now than in July.

dundrum23

It goes for

dundrum23

a minute and then stops for 20 seconds, then starts up for another min or two, then same....

Pim Pictus

dundrum23 wrote: »

a minute and then stops for 20 seconds, then starts up for another min or two, then same....

It's definitely not the fish tank if its stopping and starting. Air pumps on fish tanks are what causes the vibrating humming noise and it would be steady and constant. Some can be very loud and annoying.

FreshCoffee

dundrum23 wrote: »

Hi folks,

I am hearing a hum in my semi-d house since 24th June. Never heard it before and don't hear it in other places I've stayed for weekends since then...so it's not my ears. Turned off all elect in house on first night, all circuit breakers on fuseboard, hum continued. Repeated that many times since. Have asked lots of neighbours and only next door (not attached) hears it.

I had the same problem some years back. It was a low hum that only seemed to bother me (especially at night). Turned out it was air conditioning / condenser units with fans on a nearby restaurant and it seemed like there was something in my house (maybe windows) that had the same resonant frequency (in other words the same natural frequency as the hum). Eventually large trees grew between me and the restaurant and the hum disappeared!

If you are sensitive to low frequency hums it can be very annoying. Have a read of this:
www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1223158/Im-plagued-hum-hears.html

dundrum23

Thanks folks for your feedback. I really appreciate.

Funnily enough, one night I followed it - the wind was strong - early August - and it brought me to Lidl and CRH air conditioning units just opposite Marlay park. These are only a few 100 metres away. What could be resonating within my house with those? And why since only late June? Did they up the power on them perhaps? Or did my ears suddenly get damaged around then, making me sensitive to low frequency vibration? (not that i'm aware of)

So what do I do if that is the case?
Get evidence and approach Lidl?

Steve

You'll need to take a sound pressure reading if you want to take action. If it's 'barely audible' though you won't have a case unfortunately.

Surely in your location, a car or bus passing by would cause more noise? I don't live that far from you and know the area and the noise that Marlay concerts can make.

dundrum23

Like the lady suffering the 'hum' in Freshcoffees linked article, I had the Environment health officers out on Friday night, but no joy. Had waited 2 months for them to visit. They have only one sound-measuring device and it doesn't measure low frequency sound - only impact noises between semi-d houses. They support people in Council houses to take legal action against their noisy neighbours.
So it was no use to me.

Yes cars make more noise, but you see, cars pass by.
This doesn't. IT sound like a diesel car or van idling outside and you're waiting for it to move off, but it doesn't.
Marlay Park concerts - yes we know its booming for a few days. WE expect it. This is extremely irritating and ongoing, day and night. A low drone/hum sound. Like that lady in article, I could feel it in the body standing or lying down upstairs, so strong was the vibration.

looksee

Why not just approach the manager of lidl and discuss it amicably with him. There may be some adjustment they can make or something they would be prepared to do to help the situation.

FreshCoffee

If you suspect LIDL then I agree it's worth approaching the manager to see if they are sympathetic enough to help. They might be willing to have their maintenance people shut down the suspect equipment at an agreed time while you monitor the hum at your house. Alternatively if that is not possible they might co-ordinate with you the next time they are shutting it down for maintenance. At least it might help confirm the source of the problem. If it is their equipment they might be willing to talk to their supplier to see if there is any tweaking that can be done on the installation to minimise the problem.

When I had the problem it drove me demented and I considered all sorts of possibilities/solutions. You say the hum is internal only? Low frequencies in the air hitting your windows might be causing low frequency vibrations of the glass (like the cone in a speaker). It's a bit severe unless you can absolutely confirm this (especially as it would be costly) but changing the glass to a heavier/thicker glass might help. Shutters on the outside is another possibility.


There is a world wide phenomenon called 'The Hum'. I doubt it's your problem but worth a read:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hum
www.medicaldaily.com/how-hum-low-frequency-sound-heard-round-globe-affects-health-sensitive-323238


These are also worth reading:
www.salford.ac.uk/computing-science-engineering/research/acoustics/psychoacoustics/low-frequency-noise/frequently-asked-questions
www.noiseandhealth.org/article.asp?issn=1463-1741%3Byear=2004%3Bvolume=6%3Bissue=23%3Bspage=59%3Bepage=72%3Baulast=Leventhall

Also a facebook group dedicated to low frequency hums:
www.facebook.com/lowfrequencyhumsufferers/

dundrum23

On 10th September Saturday I called to both Supervalu and to Lidl. Spoke with both managers. Supervalu guy was very sympathetic, took my number, but hasn't followed up...Lidl guy was retail manager and said no work had been done recently and wasn't helpful particularly. I need to get back on to them.

I've since spoken to an electrician I know and we went through the the possibilities. Also spoken to structural engineer at work. Both feel that since it's not coming from my electricity, that it sounds like it is some air conditioning or refrigeration units nearby....and that they are vibrating on the ground....and that the sounds is travelling through the the earth.
Either the rock falls down away from under their houses but rises to meet my foundations. All makes sense. It had occurred to me too.

Fresh coffee thank you for the suggestions. I will get back to Lidl and Supervalu on the maintenance coordination idea. The hum got quiet in mid September...perhaps the temperatures dropped below a threshold and units switched off...and again restarted in the last week. I've read a lot about 'the hum' problem worldwide, have spent a lot of time on this, more than I wanted to, all for peace. Time will tell now, as winter comes in coming months, if it is cooling units..as they will get lower and quieter. Very strange...the things we have to deal with in life!it's coming through the the air or the ground.
I had thought this all along.

What would be required is to put rubber under the units to absorb the vibration.
The whole housing area is built on granite rock. As the engineer explained, the rock formation can go up and down, all over the place. So it's possible that it is carrying the vibration to my house and not so much to neighbouring houses, if the rock falls down away from under their houses but rises to meet my foundations. All makes sense. It had occurred to me too.

Fresh coffee thank you for the suggestions. I will get back to Lidl and Supervalu on the maintenance coordination idea. The hum got quiet in mid September...perhaps the temperatures dropped below a threshold and units switched off...and again restarted in the last week. I've read a lot about 'the hum' problem worldwide, have spent a lot of time on this, more than I wanted to, all for peace. Time will tell now, as winter comes in coming months, if it is cooling units..as they will get lower and quieter. Very strange...the things we have to deal with in life! drove me up the walls in July As was so strong. Perhaps if coming through the air, it is resonating with the windows. However they're triple glazed and only 4 years old....it's possible...