Discussion
Hi all, bit of a strange one, advise would be welcome.
The issue - there is a strong hum that resonates through the house. Mainly noticeable at night, occasionally during the day. It’s happened since the neighbours have put in a fish pond with underground skimmer pump about 10m from our house.
Fairly cut and dried you’d have thought - but having visited him and it, it’s insulated and I can’t tell of any vibrations there. He’s even replaced the pump with a quieter one than the original. I can only hear the noise in my right ear, my wife can’t hear it at all (lucky ***), but if I block the ear, it is gone so it’s definitely there. I try earplugs, ambient noise masks etc - but the whole house resonates. It’s definitely a pump noise, somewhere in the 90hz range.
Does anyone have any experience of companies who could help trace and isolate the noise, frequency etc please? I’d prefer to go that way rather than council noise, but averaging 3 hours sleep a night this week due to it…. I have tried a few locally and they have all declined.
Thanks!
The issue - there is a strong hum that resonates through the house. Mainly noticeable at night, occasionally during the day. It’s happened since the neighbours have put in a fish pond with underground skimmer pump about 10m from our house.
Fairly cut and dried you’d have thought - but having visited him and it, it’s insulated and I can’t tell of any vibrations there. He’s even replaced the pump with a quieter one than the original. I can only hear the noise in my right ear, my wife can’t hear it at all (lucky ***), but if I block the ear, it is gone so it’s definitely there. I try earplugs, ambient noise masks etc - but the whole house resonates. It’s definitely a pump noise, somewhere in the 90hz range.
Does anyone have any experience of companies who could help trace and isolate the noise, frequency etc please? I’d prefer to go that way rather than council noise, but averaging 3 hours sleep a night this week due to it…. I have tried a few locally and they have all declined.
Thanks!
GliderRider said:
If its not the pond pump, see if anyone locally has had an air source heat pump installed. I turn ours off when we go to bed as I notice the noise of the outside units.
This . I think it's going to be a real problem going forward. I am hugely sensitive to noise .I can hear a noise as described and it's a HP running three houses away. A new install.
cliffords said:
GliderRider said:
If its not the pond pump, see if anyone locally has had an air source heat pump installed. I turn ours off when we go to bed as I notice the noise of the outside units.
This . I think it's going to be a real problem going forward. I am hugely sensitive to noise .I can hear a noise as described and it's a HP running three houses away. A new install.
In the last year I've discovered a new distant humming sound which at first I thought was the fridge/freezer but it was inconsistent. I didn't think about ASHP. Since I live in a housing estate with houses behind as well as to the side then it is difficult to pin point whether a new install has been made recently in the neighbourhood.
I had this in my old house. Big old Manse (Vicarage). Never identified the cause. I turned off the power, the water you name it - it was still there.
The big issue is that once you hear it, you can't unhear it. Drove me nuts for a good long while until I just got used to it.
I loved that house - but I do not miss that incessant hum.
Worth a read
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hum
The big issue is that once you hear it, you can't unhear it. Drove me nuts for a good long while until I just got used to it.
I loved that house - but I do not miss that incessant hum.
Worth a read
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hum
Is there a need to have the pump running constantly? They're usually quite low power so even a cheap time clock could put it off for the hours you normally sleep. How is the pump mounted? Can it be mounted on rubber feet and isolated from rigid pipework with short lengths of rubber hose?
I am quite sure it’s not me (thank you). I have hearing issues (born deaf, had many operations), so have regular checks.
If it was tinnitus, it wouldn’t stop when I close my ear canal (it’s an internal noise I have lived with all my life).
It’s definitely a mechanical pump of some sort. But how can it transmit through earth…. (Can clay transmit vibrations?)
If it was tinnitus, it wouldn’t stop when I close my ear canal (it’s an internal noise I have lived with all my life).
It’s definitely a mechanical pump of some sort. But how can it transmit through earth…. (Can clay transmit vibrations?)
Red9zero said:
lizardbrain said:
tinnitus?
I spent weeks trying to find a rattle in our car. Pulled bits of trim off, stuck tape on other bits, wedged rubber in gaps. Turned out to be Tinnitus. On the plus side, the car doesn't rattle 
It was diagnosed as tinnitus. I could make it go away by popping my ears but it wasn't ever a constant hum for me although it could last for hours. Went away a few years ago of its own accord.
Weirdly, a possibly unrelated, I found certain sounds at that time would literally cause me to almost pass out. A car I had at the time had a resonance from a loud exhaust, around 4K rpm as it sat on the edge of the cam and it would trigger real problems.
Edited by DonkeyApple on Thursday 23 October 19:24
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