Advice please - noisy tumble drier

gundo

I hate to bother the neighbours but for a few months now I've had difficulty getting to sleep as I'm being kept awake by a low pitched "thrumming" noise. I plucked up all my courage and spoke to the neighbour when I saw them and they said it was their new tumble drier and that they'd put the washing on earlier in the evening so the drier is off before I go to bed (I've been going to bed later and later to avoid the noise - these days it's 1am most nights).

Anyway a few weeks later the neighbour asked if I could still hear it and I admitted that although it had got better that yes sorry I could still hear it (they pulled out from under the worktop a bit so that it wasn't touching any pipes or the wall). For some reason it's loudest in my bedroom which is as far away as you can get (in our semi) from where it's located in the neighbour's house. The neighbor says they can't hear it in their bedroom.

Other than the tumble drier I hardly hear a peep from them but the drier is getting to me and I'm sleeping less than 5-6 hours a night and I'm shattered. Some nights (tonight) the noise started at 11.15pm and is still an hour or so later.

I'm thinking of offering to cut some old camping mat I have (thick plasticky foam that put under your sleeping bag) to put under the drier to see if that would help. But it feels really presumptious and arrogant to pester the neighbour again.

What can I do? It's affecting me so badly I feel like moving but with the market at the moment that would be too much distress (I have a big mortgage as it is).

How can I gently ask the neighbour to see if I can solve this problem? I'd really appreciate help/advice is anyone has some.

For what it's worth I'm a single bloke living on his own and i miss my peace and quiet especially at bedtime.

mrs_moo-cow

It really shouldn't make that much noise- especially if new!
We recently had an awful problem with ours making a lot of noise - turned out the fan had worked its way loose - although saying that, it's now fixed and is still quite loud - I can hear it from up here in the bedroom, but doubt the sound would resonate through to next door... (for what it's worth ours is a condenser tumble drier and about 2 yrs old)
It's a toughy, I really hope there is some resolution - at least they were kind enough to try and sort it - I've had some neighbours in the past that would have told me where to go...

frivolous_fay

Did they give up on the idea of putting it on earlier then? Seems like the simplest solution!

ailuro2

Once you have heard a noise it's hard to switch off....

Send them to this site for some ideas on moneysaving, they could buy an airer instead of using the tumble drier, it would pay for itself in weeks. Having the tumble drier on every night must be horrendous for their electricity bill!

That aside, remind them they promised to put the tumble drier on earlier in the evening, and that if they are going to bed leaving it to run it could be dangerous for them....the fire service recomend not leaving washing machines etc. running while you sleep.

(I always thought this advice from the fire brigade was over the top but a friend of mine recently had an electrical problem that could have set her house on fire if it hadn't been spotted because she was home:eek:)

That said, if they are trying to take advantage of white meter electricity, perhaps the could put it on a timer to finish just before the rate ends in the morning.

Pooky23

I had a similar problem with neighbours who worked shifts. They thought it was acceptable to put the washing machine on at 5am...it woke us up at 6am every morning on full spin !! At the time we had a young baby so would get them back when he woke up and cried in the night!

Re tumble dryers, my last one caught fire and scared the living daylights out of me. It was day time and I was in the house but it caught fire although thankfully it was contained within the machine. Since that day, I have never used one again and everything is line dried or hung up on an airer.

If you are on good terms with your neighbours I would gently broach the subject again. Failing that, how about getting some ear plugs.

Dill

Is there something you can put up on your wall, say, to soundproof it a little? I think there are companies who specialise in this, but it might just be a case of putting some tiles or some sort of sound insulation on the wall

I know what you mean about disturbed sleep, - our upstairs neighbours used to put the machine on at all hours of the night and I'd be woken by it. But at least your neighbour sounds friendly, and wanting to help, so hopefully you'll find a solution soon.

zerodashzero

Are they using dryer balls? (Those ones by JML that are meant to reduce static.)
My parents use them & they make the most awful Whumphing sound.

simpywimpy

I have a condensing dryer and have had the service people out to it twice because of the noise but they say there is nothing wrong. I have had to move mine out of the kitchen because I couldn't hear the tv in the living room when it was on.

It's now going 3 rooms away from the living room and I can still hear it with the doors open! My bedroom is above it and there is no way I can have it on at night!

I've no suggestions but I have the same problem. They really should not have it on after 10pm for example knowing it is so bad.

squidge60

think yourself lucky its a noisy dryer rather than people being noisy as xhit early in the morning it so winds me up.:rolleyes: trouble is being hacked of is what makes it worse but i am just the same about sleep so know what you are saying.dryers seem to vary on noise i have the same dryer as someone else and ours makes a lot less noise.only thing i can suggest is putting on a radio or some music to mask it.hope you sort it

PasturesNew

It's a shame they can't just put it on earlier, the point above about electrical fires is valid - I had a washing machine catch light one morning. I had a choice of wait for it to finish and be 3-5 minutes late for work, or leave it as it was just doing the final fast spin. I've never been happy leaving any electrical items running, so I waited... and the motor stuck on fast spin and never released.

What might help is if you have a radio/music on really low, put that on a sleeper so it turns itself off. It might mask the noise you're annoyed by and you'd just nod off with the radio/music on.

judy2357

I know Im repeating myself as Ive mentioned this before on MSE but I sleep with a fan on, you may find it difficult for a few days to sleep with the noise but this drowns out all background noises. Actually Im so used to it now I cant sleep without it.