Author Topic: The Hum  (Read 2961 times)

shelivesthedream

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The Hum
« on: December 05, 2018, 03:45:01 AM »
I've started hearing a low-pitched rumbling sound in our house, and it's driving me batty. It's like constant massive bass so low it's almost out of hearing range, or a Tube train rumbling underneath the ground. I only hear it in our house and my husband can't hear it. There is a big construction project going on half a mile away, and there is a house that plays obnoxious music at all hours across the street, but I can't seriously believe it's either of them that's I'm hearing.

Am I tuning into The Hum? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hum

Discuss!

jinga nation

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Re: The Hum
« Reply #1 on: December 05, 2018, 06:16:40 AM »
What part of London are you in? anywhere near the crossrail project?

Have a good friend who's in civil engineering/management out there... he said there's so much construction going on in London.

Build all you can before Brexit?

What's your perspective?

I love a constant bass sound or white noise, soothing and easy to focus on tasks. and keep the annoying people away.

misshathaway

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Re: The Hum
« Reply #2 on: December 05, 2018, 06:20:05 AM »
I've started hearing a low-pitched rumbling sound in our house, and it's driving me batty. It's like constant massive bass so low it's almost out of hearing range, or a Tube train rumbling underneath the ground. I only hear it in our house and my husband can't hear it. There is a big construction project going on half a mile away, and there is a house that plays obnoxious music at all hours across the street, but I can't seriously believe it's either of them that's I'm hearing.

Am I tuning into The Hum? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hum

Discuss!

Probably unlikely that this is the cause but I have the same problem now in New England. In my case, after being driven so batty that I had to find out, I went outside, walked up the street, and it was an army of lawn workers using leaf blowers. The remote sound inside a house is not like the sound when you are within a few feet of them.

Shinplaster

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Re: The Hum
« Reply #3 on: December 05, 2018, 09:18:41 AM »
Yup, the never ending hum.   I can hear it upstairs, and it's particularly bad in the master bedroom.  I finally figured out what it was - the halogen street light at the end of our driveway below the bedroom.  You can actually hear the hum if you stand right next to the light.  We have drainage pipes that run between our houses (clay soil), and one of the pipes runs right along the edge of the driveway.  So the hum gets magnified in the pipe, and then vibrates up the wall where our bed is.

The city says that I am not imagining this, but only a small percentage of people can hear it, so too bad for me.  It drives me crazy, to the point I have to use a white noise machine to try and drown it out.

I have heard of people in Windsor (Canada) complaining about weird noises too.

jinga nation

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Re: The Hum
« Reply #4 on: December 05, 2018, 10:10:54 AM »
My ears pick up the hum of fluorescent light (tube light) fixtures, I think it may be the ballast. Gets to the point where it drowns out what others are saying.

Parents/Kids/Wife get angry, they think I'm ignoring. They think I'm a liar. Been going on since I was 4-ish.

Spiffy

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Re: The Hum
« Reply #5 on: December 06, 2018, 10:56:22 AM »
My husband tells a story about his childhood where he would pitch a fit about going into a certain store at the mall because the "lights are too noisy". His Mom thought he was just being an annoying kid, but then she started hearing it too.

RetiredAt63

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Re: The Hum
« Reply #6 on: December 06, 2018, 11:18:38 AM »
Oh, lights and hums.  My LED lights in the basement hum  more a high faint shine than a hum, really), I think it is because they are on a dimmer switch.  They are rated for dimmers, but the same kind of bulbs on a different circuit don't hum.

Visuals too - old monitors drove me crazy, they flickered, apparently the refresh rate wasn't fast enough.  Some people saw it, some didn't.

We are not built for modern life.   :-(

jinga nation

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Re: The Hum
« Reply #7 on: December 07, 2018, 08:55:46 AM »
My ears pick up the hum of fluorescent light (tube light) fixtures, I think it may be the ballast. Gets to the point where it drowns out what others are saying.

Parents/Kids/Wife get angry, they think I'm ignoring. They think I'm a liar. Been going on since I was 4-ish.

It's going to get worse for the family and better for me. House is being renovated. 6 recessed LED lights going in kitchen, 3 pendant LED lights over the island, LED cans and wall lights in bathrooms, LED cans in hallway, LED can at entrace foyer, LEDs in fans in dining room, family room, front living/kids zone. So. much. happy. humming.

Mississippi Mudstache

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Re: The Hum
« Reply #8 on: December 07, 2018, 09:12:02 AM »
We used to live in a rental house that hummed right where the electrical lines entered the panel box. It was especially bad on windy days. Never figured out why, but it sucked.

Just Joe

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Re: The Hum
« Reply #9 on: December 07, 2018, 09:12:55 AM »
I run a desk fan and background music in my work office to mask some of the fluorescent ballast hum. I hate that noise. Some days I don't notice it and some days it is an oppressive sound.

shelivesthedream

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Re: The Hum
« Reply #10 on: December 07, 2018, 11:20:24 AM »
OK, this is weird. I heard it somewhere else today. About a quarter of a mile from our house. But I also felt vibrations on my feet in our house.

We're not a bajillion miles away from Crossrail 2, but surely it can't be that!

foghorn

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Re: The Hum
« Reply #11 on: December 08, 2018, 06:08:30 AM »
Do you happened to live anywhere near a windmill farm?  The big ones that are used for power generation?  I have read news stories in the past where "the hum" was driving people crazy who happened to live near these big windmill farms. 

Just Joe

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Re: The Hum
« Reply #12 on: December 08, 2018, 11:55:15 AM »
Coal mining nearby?

APowers

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Re: The Hum
« Reply #13 on: December 08, 2018, 03:56:54 PM »
Half a mile is well within the range for heavy equipment to shake the earth enough for you to notice. And, heavy duty diesel engine vibration is pretty near The Hum, too*. I would suggest taking a walk next time you hear/feel it, and see if you can follow the sound.

*Source: someone was running a small excavator up the street from me, and I could clearly feel the vibration in the house-- sounded like The Hum-- but when I went to listen for it, there was no sound until I walked up the block a ways.

bacchi

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Re: The Hum
« Reply #14 on: December 08, 2018, 05:01:08 PM »
Low frequencies are tricky. They can appear to come from somewhere other than the source.

shelivesthedream

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Re: The Hum
« Reply #15 on: December 09, 2018, 12:45:05 AM »
No windmills or coal mines in London!

But I am now thinking maybe it isn't real because I noticed it goes away when I talk and I don't think it's just being drowned out.

MarcherLady

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Re: The Hum
« Reply #16 on: December 09, 2018, 08:54:47 AM »
Have you ruled out tinnitus? (I'm not sure how one would go about that!)

shelivesthedream

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Re: The Hum
« Reply #17 on: December 09, 2018, 10:15:09 AM »
I'm actually going to the GP tomorrow for just that purpose! It was weird to suddenly realise it's probably not real. Still weird, because its such a clear natural sound.

shelivesthedream

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Re: The Hum
« Reply #18 on: December 14, 2018, 01:26:33 PM »
GP confirmed nothing visibly wrong with ears therefore tinnitus, but it's since got louder and now I can hear it properly I'm pretty sure it's pulsatile tinnitus as I have also started feeling it in my ears too, so I might go back again next week.

BudgetSlasher

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Re: The Hum
« Reply #19 on: December 18, 2018, 11:41:52 AM »
Can you turn power to the whole house and see if the noise goes away?

I am always surprised by how quiet our house is when there is a power failure.

I would not be surprised to find that what you are hearing is the cumulative effect of modern electronics. Certain LEDs in our house hum (but I can I am only aware of it when I am close the the LED) certain cell phone chargers have a wining noise to them (again only hear as a distinct noise nearby), one computer power brick makes an annoying whine (I notice it when things are quiet and I cannot sleep if that computer is in the room), the wireless charger for my phone has a small fan (a little bit of a white noise), the ceiling fan has a dull noise from what I assume to be the bearing, the 12VAC converter for the doorbell has a slight coil whine, one of my GFIC outlets has a low buzz, and I am sure I have ID'ed a few  other things.

I am sure there are tons of things sitting there with power draw that could be emitting a little noise, think anything with a little glowing LED even when it is "off", waits for a remote control signal, has a touch input without physical power switch, or heck anything that converts 120/240vac to 12vac or DC.

Most of those are not independently discernible beyond a couple inches to, a most, feet, but could add up to a low background of white noise/hum.