Can't locate source of humming noise in house

cepheus

From around 12 noon yesterday I have heard an annoying low frequency humming noise which tends to be concentrated in some areas more than others. At first I thought it was an engine outside, but it carries on for hours at a time. The most likely source is a faulty central heating pump, but I can hear the neighbours pump going even when the humming is stopped and no water is gushing out of the drain pipe suggesting a washing machine spin isn't the cause either.

At least it was off late last night.

The bizarre thing is, I can't hear anything much near to the neighbours wall, or in the adjoining kitchen. It seems concentrated in the middle of my house. Obviously I have got nothing turned on.

It seems to be a strange acoustic effect of low frequency noise such as interference of waves, were one spot is very noisy and a few metres away it is impossible to hear anything at all.

It is rendering my living room difficult to live in so I will have to find the source.

asbokid

could it be a hummingbird?

WhiteHorse

Turn your mains power off and see if the hum stops. If it does, it's yours.

Low frequency hums often come from ventilation fans on nearby buldings. They can carry a surprising distance and can be very difficult to locate.

Waffle_On

We had a similar issue, and found that it was next door's fish tank. It was placed against our shared wall, directly opposite our internal wall running at 90 degrees. The noise was travelling along that wall and at it's loudest at the far end of it!

Tucker

I had something similar in my bathroom. Scratched my head for ages.

It was a faulty low energy light bulb......

cepheus

Ventilation fan seems most feasible.

maninthestreet

asbokid wrote: »

could it be a hummingbird?

Really? How many hummingbirds have you see living in the wild in Britain??

shandypants5

WhiteHorse wrote: »

Turn your mains power off and see if the hum stops. If it does, it's yours.

Try the same thing with your main water stopcock too.

societys_child

I had the same problem as waffle-on many years ago, next doors fish tank. he'd just fitted a new pump and couldn't hear the noise in his own house. Moving the tank slightly cured it.

Had a strange noise a couple of years ago ... kind of humming. Traced it to . . . the water inlet on the WC cistern (must have been weeping very very slightly) took it out, stripped it, cleaned it, still did it. Spent a tenner on a new one which cured it. These sort of noises can be really irritating.

Dippypud

We have 2 large flurescent tubes in our kitchen ceiling lamp, the mains 'hum' from the transformer is really loud.

If you do not have this in your house it's possible one of your neighbours has.

Also the shaver point in the bathroom does the same, no matter what you plug in.

Saturnalia

Is it The Hum?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hum