Hello
I've read through all 11 pages on this subject. Unfortunately, I do not know when the last comment was posted, or if this discussion is continuing. Today is October 8, 2010. I've been plagued by this same annoying hum for several months now myself. I live in southern California. Have tried almost all the same things others have tried, including having the electrical meter literally pulled off my house! The hum is still there.

Has anyone considered the idea that this has just become more prevalent since more and more cell phone towers have been installed? Although some "experts" tell me I could not possibly hear anything eminating from them, I am inclined to believe I can. I know one that is pointed in our direction. Don't know exactly when it went up, but I intend to find out. Could something like that, pointed in our direction, somehow create a hum from the waves bouncing off the house? There is no way to pinpoint this hum inside the house. One person did say he/she moved to an area where cell phone reception couldn't be had, and now has peace and quiet.


I hope this discussion is continuing. The more ideas we get, the more likely we are to pinpoint the culprit. Besides, my husband also is tired of hearing about it from me, and it helps me to know there are others out there who can empathize.

In my case I think that it's a low level frequency in the ground, because I can hear it in my garage (and the house) which is 3 walls of concrete in the hill with only the door and the roof that's wood. I also heard this in a house miles away.

Well I had another thought also. I remember that one time I saw a... I guess alarmbox with a flashing red light on it about half way up a light pole, that seems to making a low hum if you are close enough to it. Maybe check the area you live in and see if one of these big metal boxes is on a lightpole near your home. Should have a blinking light on the side of the box and the metal vbox is like 3 feet by 2 feet high and 1-2 feet wide from front to back of box.

DARKSEID

The problem is caused by the ballcock trying to fill while water is seeping out of the tank. The sound you hear is the washer vibrating against the seat of the ballcock. First check there linkage between the flapper and the flush lever. It should have 1/4" of play when your tank is filled. Next feel the flat side of your flapper. Does it have wavey edges? Do your hands come away black? Replace it if it does. And last check the seat itself. Any nicks or rough spots? If so click on back. There are replacement seats that glue right over the old one and are easy to replace. One of the above should take care of your howling. This happened in a new house some years ago. Only at night and in the early morning. They thought the house was haunted and were about to move out. I caught it in the powder room toilet. It would vibrate and the pipes in the wall would pick it up and carry it all over the house. Hope this helps

Thanks Dark. I am going to have a look around even though the sound is not heard outside.

"Has anyone considered the idea that this has just become more prevalent since more and more cell phone towers have been installed?" This is what I believe it to be. But proving it & doing something about it would be next to impossible...

Cindi0398 10/24/10. l'm in the SE.of US and hear it too in house.Outside is harder to detect. Low freq.Sounds like a factory/generator.Not everyone can hear it. I've been searching internet for months.Keep posting!

Wish it were, but not in my case.

Most noises can be traced back to the plumbing but If you hear it outside the house in the ground perhaps the electrical page can help solve this. Good luck, Tom

Thanks Tom. I hear a mixture of motors while outside so it is hard to determine where this one is coming from. Some Will it rule out plumbing if I shut off the main water valve coming into the house and still hear the noise?

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Will it rule out plumbing if I shut off the main water valve coming into the house and still hear the noise?

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As much as I want to help If you've shut the waster off and opened up a valve to bleed off the pressure and still hear the sound then I'm at a loss. Any high tension lines near bye? Cheers, Tom

High tension lines? Also, a nieghbor and I share a concrete driveway. I wonder if noise from his home can vibrate through the driveway/ground to mine. He said he doesn't have a motor running but I'm beginning to wonder. But what would run all day and night? And only occasionally have I heard it just stop... but then start up again. It truly sounds like a motor because the sound will wane and wax occasionally.

I will Google Tinnitus but in the meantime please share if you were diagnosed with this condition and what were the treatments you tried. Although I don't think this is the cause for me since I mainly hear it in my own house.

Sydelin,
I have Tinnitus, You don't! If you did you would hear it 24/7 everyplace you go and not just at home. You live near high tension lines? I know they can produce a humming sound in dry weather and a crackling sound in wet weather. And your thoughts? Tom

I have this problem and only I can hear it; you're not crazy. It started last summer. I've read this thread from end to end and ruled out the obvious. Allowing for the usual: refrigerator motors, furnace, water heater noises etc; I found this noise in my neighbor's house as well, and in my friends' houses that live within a few miles of mine. In the houses, it doesn't come from anywhere, it comes from everywhere; louder in some areas of the house than others. I have tried using my automotive stethoscope on my pipes, and on the ground with no luck at all. Anytime outside, even in the quiet of early morning, it is undetectable. In my car, it's not there either, nor in my Mom's house in Northern Washington: not tinnitus. This is December, 2010 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

I had no idea that it was so widespread. Some of the posts on here involve different solutions, but I have no doubt that some of you are hearing what I'm hearing; your descriptions are dead on. This sounds like a generator or diesel engine running down the street, continuous with an occasional tone change. When you go outside: nothing, nothing anywhere that I could find in the immediate neighborhood. At first, I theorized it could be a natural gas generator that was bootlegged off one of the new "plastic" gas lines, running below grade and venting the exhaust into the sewer, or maybe running on vegetable oil? Something that would be free to the user as this runs 24/7. But, the fact that it's so widespread might indicate a problem or an equipment trend in the utility industry which is something we all subscribe to.

It started after some new homes were built down the street, but could've also coincided with work at the local hospital which is about 1/2 mile away. Both occurred over the summer. I Will continue to investigate -what choice do we have?

We all need a dedicated website for this so we can begin to track the problems regionally, narrow it down and eradicate the causes.

Hi finding out,

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We all need a dedicated website for this so we can begin to track the problems regionally, narrow it down and eradicate the causes.

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I'd go along with that.
Has any one recorded these sounds so they can be analyzed?
I think that might be a start. If you can "follow" this noise back to a common source then your mystery will be solved. What do you think?
Please keep me in the loop if you come up with aqnything
I have 24/7 ringing in my right ear but that's from a broken eardrum. Although our noise are caused by different sources I share the same problem as you, have since 1979. I feel your pain and share your concerns,
Let me know if any new developments should come up! Good luck, Tom