Has anyone else noticed this recently? I've read things on the net about it possibly being seismic activity causing vibrations. I moved into my house about a year ago and the last few days have been the first time I've heard it, but I used to hear a similar thing when I lived at home with the parents years ago. It sounds like there's an industrial generator running outside or something. Very low rumble but there's nothing there and you can't hear it outside?

Annoying more than anything. Anyone else hear this noise from time to time?

 

Gas condensing boilers have a pump that empty's the sump mine pumps it upstairs to bath waste sounds a bit like what you describe. With a mild winter might be first you have heard it.

 

Hmm. I've got an oil condensing boiler that I had fitted a few weeks ago. Been outside. Can't hear anything at the boiler. The noise is the same all the way through the house. Neighbour also has an oil boiler.

 

Also if house is a semi might be the neighbour giving winter wash a high spin to aid drying would also give that sound, that would also only last few mins and would not hear outside.

PS the sump pump is like a reverse cistern gradually fill then pumps empty. can be random.

 

fridge? led lights? Pull your main breaker and see if it's still there, if it is then it's next door or aliens

 

I think if you concentrate long enough when there's nothing else doing you can invent a hum inside your head..

 

Could be illegal frackers I guess.

 

I'm getting to the stage of poking my eardrums out. Been years since I've had a solid nights sleep. Part down to the atrocious sound proofing of this badly built house; Dorma roof so all that between my bed room and the outside world is a bit of plasterboard, glasswool, felt and roof tiles. The only way I sleep is to tire myself beyond the point of exhaustive collapse.

The goods trains idling at the signals about a mile away is main source of low frequency rumble. But that's a different noise to "the hum". I actually have no electronic devices in my room anymore because the noise of the power supplies drives me crazy (that's usually high pitch though).

It seems to me that either the house itself or myself is resonating at around 40ish hertz.

More recently I've intermittently developed low frequency tinnitus as well. only heard while trying to sleep, possibly blood pressure related or something is pressing on my auditory nerves, if it's the latter hopefully it'll be an aggressive tumour and put a swift end to my suffering and then I can sleep forever.

 

Bloody hell Ali you've got it bad this week mate.

As for the hum it's probably as above the fridge, my fridge freezer does it, sometimes more than others, not sure why, doesn't help living in the middle of nowhere and literally being able to hear a pin drop 100m away. Took some getting used to when I first moved here, having lived on a busy road for 20yrs previously I was oblivious to screaching cars honking horns and even sirens, the I moved here and the silence was deafening

Ali one word, Alcohol.

 

Hi,
Turn main power supply to house off for a few minutes and check if you can still hear the hum.
If yes - then very spooky!
If no - then turn on power and then turn off all the circuit breakers and switch them on - one at a time until noise returns.
Boilers, central heating pumps, fridges, freezers, computers etc. all have pumps and fans that can be heard - especially in the dead of night.
Cheers
Steve

 

stick a radio on in an adjacent room with some low level music on, this should help with the tinnitus, I only notice mine when it`s silent, you wont like it for a night or two but after that you wont notice it.

 

+1.

 

Most times, it's to do with electrical appliances plugged in 24/7. Sounds inside head is a known but less popular phenomenon, too. If that and other obvious things are to rule out, It could be that the hearer has a very sensitive ear, and he's able to pick the underground sound from thousands of feet below; of the lava flowing. Or he hears the sea or the sounds from the sky e.g. the jet engines or even alien aircrafts on the constant go. He hears them better at night, because other usual sounds are less prominent at that time. Saying that, it could be the collective sound of the people snoring at that time; coming from some distance.

Mind boggles. I feel like investigating it.

 

If it's a new build house you will most likely find if you go in the loft that the electric junction box for the heating & water system has been bolted to a joist ...
Harmonic vibration resonating through the whole house
....

 

For years I used to hear a constant background droning noise.
























Then I got divorced.

 

PMSL

Mart

 

Me too

 

my experience that sort of drone is slightly high pitched !

 

More of a whine in my experience. Fixed that a while back.

At least no wthe main road has been resuffaced I don't hear the roller shutters on the Tuffnells trucks when they used to ride over the potholes (One Tuffnell truck every half an hour throughout the night)

 

Do you have a 3-port valve on your heating system?

The synchro motor is driven to the off position on the water side and can emit a low frequency hum through the pipe work that most people will only notice in the dead of night.

 

We had similar, turned out to be the Sky box