noisy enviroment

carer101

Hi, First post wasn't sure if this was the correct place for this or not.

About 5 years ago my wife became disabled through illness and was made redundant, her health has deteriorated and because of this last year, I had to give up my job to look after her as a full time carer .
Our income has has gone from being very comfortable to being skint and the savings we have built up over 20 years have nearly gone.

The house we have owned for 6 years had to be sold because it couldn't be adapted for my wife's needs and we made very little after the sale.

We were rehoused into a orbit housing association adapted bungalow, which was very nice and in a great location, we considered our selves very lucky to have been given this help which involved my wifes medical specialists, disabled access team in getting the property so quickly.

So that's the back ground story, here's the problem, we have had on the estate ground source heating fitted recently, next doors external pump was fitted right under a bedroom window which borders our bedroom window, these pumps are very big, they pump fluid around a pipe 100mtrs into the ground and so have to be powerful. Rather than putting these pumps in something proper they have housed them in wickes garden storage plastic cupboards.

My wife and I haven't slept properly in weeks and it is starting to impact directly on her health and disability, we have approached orbit and have been basically fobbed of by them quoting decibel levels and manufacturers accoustic values??????????

I want to know what our rights are concerning this, the noise and vibration keeps us awake and is annoying enough during the day but at night it is just depressing. My wife has been very upset about all this and has been crying a bit, she blames herself and her illness for getting us into this situation.

I am getting frustrated in my dealings with orbit and feel like I am banging my head against a brick wall, especially when they bring experts to the property and talk down to you:mad:

motherofstudents

I don't have any experience of this in particular but with any problem of this kind I would suggest you try environmental health, your local councillor or failing that, your mp. You could also try local press. I'm sure there will be people on here soon to point you in the right direction. I'm sorry you are suffering like this and hope you get some relief soon.

G_M

Environmental Health will help IF the decebel level is above their maximum levels. If not, they won't. You could ask them to do measurements.

What about offering to pay to soundproof the cupboards yourself if Orbit won't help? It can't be hard to buy insulation panels or something similar to put around the pump, if you can get them to agree.

lynzpower

G_M Im sorry but that is simply not true. Environmental health often intervene informally and noise does not have to hit any particular Db Level to be a nuisance. I have been out on a number of calls like this recently. there are a number o interventions that could be made, whether formally or informally, so if you call your Local EHO's they should be able to help.

carer101

We have never rented before, but this has left a sour taste in my mouth, dealing with this company is so annoying:mad:

We have mentioned insulating ourselves, but they have said no because of warranty issues.

The guy from orbit keeps mentioning that decibel levels aren't high, but the noise or hum is coming through the structure of the building.

edinburgher

The guy from orbit keeps mentioning that decibel levels aren't high, but the noise or hum is coming through the structure of the building.

He obviously doesn't know what he's talking about then - the volume isn't the only thing that makes sound disruptive. For example, pitch is very important and will affect how the sound transmits through walls/windows etc. 'Deep' sounds with low volumes can make life very uncomfortable, as it feels like there's a constant 'rumble' in your home. Hardly fun

As others have said, speak to Environmental Health and don't quit until you get some respite. I sympathise - as someone with very good hearing I've actually had to move house before because of irritating background noise that couldn't be remedied.