Hello, I hope you folks can help me.

Recently, we have been hearing a loud, low frequency "hum" throughout our house. I have turned the main power off to determine whether it's electrical. It's not. The noise does sound like a "fog horn" going off several blasts at a time and the noise level is constant in every level/room.

I think this is a water pipe humming problem like other people have described. However, I have turned the water main off and the problem does not go away! A quick check of indoor faucets and toilets didn't really turn up the culprit.

I recently got a lawn sprinkler installed. I can't really check its pipes. Could this be the source of the problem too?

Before I call a plumber, is there anything else I should try? Attic/roof inspection? Gas line? Structure?

Any suggestion would be appreciated. This noise is very annoying.

Cheers.

Hi,
I would suggest checking in your attic as this sound could be caused by animals/birds possibly or by something in the attic vibrating against wooden beams for example a TV aerial. Also check for anything battery operated that could be causing it.

If the noise started after you had your sprinklers installed I would suggest a professional checks they are not faulty and that the pipes are not blocked.

If you still don't have a culprit look for a reputable electrician to check the wiring in the house, because although you disconnected the power supply a small amount of power could still be running. This happens when your electric company tries to ensure that if you have a power cut it doesn't short the circuits or the meter.

Good luck finding the problem.

Tracy

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 Tom

I am having a similar experience in my home. I also tuned of all the breakers and the water, but the noise continues (every level and every room including the basement). Fog horn is a good way to describe it, but mine is a faint low level hum. It is mostly intermittent, but sometimes continues for several seconds at a time. It is difficult to hear if there are any other noises. I mostly hear it at night, but if it's quiet I can hear it 24/7. I searched for the source everywhere in my home with no luck. I have now started searching the neighborhood. I'm not sure what I'm looking for, maybe a transformer going bad or something. No one else in my home can hear the noise, and they are starting to give me funny looks. Have you had any luck finding the source of your hum? I would love to figure this one out. It's keeping me up at night.

It's me again. It seems we are not the only ones in the world with this problem. I googled "humming noise" and came across some interesting reading (that's how I came across your posting). Check out the two links below. I am trying to reach out to the individuals associated with these articles. I will let you if I come up with something.


Click on, or cut and past these links in your address bar.

Society for Scientific Exploration | Journal of Scientific Exploration | The Hum: An Anomalous Sound Heard Around the World

Mystery humming sound captured - Technology - smh.com.au

Taos Hum Page

http://amasci.com/hum/tinn2.txt

Has anyone come up with any other possible fixes for this problem? I am having the same issue. I can hear a fairly quiet sound similar to a foghorn that comes and goes, sometimes lasting up to 30-60 seconds at a time. It is especailly noticeable at night. Even though it is not very loud, I can almost feel the low level rumble of the noise. It is approximately the same volume in all rooms.

As with others on this list, no one else in my house can hear the noise, so they think I'm nuts.

Would some sort of sound meter be able to help locate the source of the sound... or even to prove that the sound exists?

Thanks

This probably isn't your answer, but I had a similar experience the other night with a whistling sound coming from my two-month old's room. Turns out my 18 month old had shut the vent in his room and it was the noise of the furnace fan blowing against the closed vent.

Its Aliens!! No seriously I don't know what its is but I hear the same noise, it's the ice maker on my refrigerator though.

Hey delevin1, no answers to give you, but here's what has happened since my last posting. The noise is still present in my home, and still no one else can here it but me. Even stranger, I have heard the noise in two other places. One in a friends home about five miles from where I live, and two in a friends home about ten miles from where I live. I believe it could be coming from navigational aids or other equipment from the nearby Air Reserve base. There are lots of large aircraft operating there. I use to live in New Smyrna Beach, Florida (about one hour north of the Kennedy Space Center in Cocoa Beach, Florida). When they would launch a Shuttle it would take several minutes for the rumble of the engines to come rolling through New Smyrna. My point being these types of low frequency intense happenings could very easily affect a large geographic area. Still the most reasonable explanation is the Taos Hum (see the links to the sites in my earlier response). This humming noise of unknown origin is said to be audible to just two to ten percent of the population. There is a lot of speculation on what might be causing this humming noise, but not a lot of interest in figuring out exactly what it is. When I first started hearing the noise I was obsessed with finding out what it was, mainly because I thought it was coming from my home. I really started to think I would have to sell the house and get the heck out, but since I have heard it in other locations I guess that won't be necessary. Bottom line, since I can only hear the noise when things are very quiet (mostly at night) I decided to go with a little white noise. I bought a heppa filter and I crank it up to drown out the noise ( since it's a steady noise it's much more tolerable). For those of you who think it's aliens, the air vent, the water pipes... thanks for the input, but we are not stupid just frustrated. For delevin1 and maybe jwalker2007, I feel your pain. We are not crazy, our hearing is simply hyper sensitive to these low level noises. I thought about trying to record the noise and amplify it for the nonbelievers, but I don't really care who believes me anymore. Like I said, buy a heppa filter and forget about it!

We have had this problem in Chicago for over three years now.
First we thought it was the frig, the turned off the power main, still hear it. Sounds like a truck idling outside, but go outside and its dead quiet. Go inside and its omnidirectional in the home.
We installed airport noise abatement windows in our bedroom. That muffled the cars and voices outside, but did nothing for this low hum.

Among the things we checked:

* Hum heard with power main 'off'
* No attic fan
* No sump pump
* Gutters are tight
* roof antenna tight
* Chimney has a cap
* Someone mentioned it might be wind over the toilet roof vents/stacks. I don't know, anybody ever hear of this?
* Hot water tank new... 3 years old, seems quiet
* Heard with heat or a/c off.
* Plumbing seems quiet.
* We have flat roof vents, but so do our neighbors, don't hear the sound
* 75% of backyard is concrete, but I thought concrete is a sound blocker, not transmitter.
* Had gas lines checked, all OK
* Had chimney cleaned, some nesting and a dead bird clay liner shifted slightly, but otherwise OK.
* We have an extension back room on our second floor. Has one gable vent, separate from attic. Also has its own independent gas heater, we never use, but has its own vent stack on roof.

We are at a loss. Bothers me more than my wife. NOt loud, but low, fan and ear plugs do not mask it. ANY remedies you can offer? Solve this and I'll fly you in and treat you to any meal in any restaurant in Chicago you want. Really. Please help, Dave

Anybody??

I think this might help all of you I am into digital video recording and have searched out odd noises many times with my directional microphone. Check the spy or tech stores for directional listening device. I found the source of the noise in a three story building the noise was in the attic and we had started hearing it from the lowest level of the house.
I would suggest using this method at night when there are not so much noise in general.

Hope this helps

See Wikipedia The Hum aka Taos Hum

Yeah, I've read up on both Taos hum and Kokomo. At least Kokomo had a real cause, and the hum was eliminated. Unfortunately, that doesn't help...

While working in homes on repair jobs I've heard very low pitched humming noises coming from dryer exhaust vents, usually from the type with the single flap. This is when the dryer is NOT running. It would be easy to see if that is the problem by sticking an old rag or newspapers under the louver hood to keep the flap from moving. Be sure not to forget to remove the rag before using the dryer!

Ralph,
Was this type of low hum localized or could one hear it throughout the home? Thank you.

Dave, you can hear it in other parts of the house, depending where the dryer is located.
It all depends how large your house is, you're not living in the Playboy Mansion, are you?
I certainly hope I win that Steak dinner and you don't even have to fly me to Chicago, I just a quick 40 minutes away! :eek:

I too am experiencing a humming sound. It's like a transformer sound. Not real loud, but real annoying, especially at night. My son has also heard it, so I don't have a hearing problem.:) It's constant and loudest in the back of the house, primarily my bedroom. I had the power company out and they disconnected all power to the house and pump house at the transformer. It even shut down my neighbor's electricity. Guess that made them wonder. Still the sound was present. I have taken batteries out of everything with one. I can't sleep. It's making me crazy. My next step it to call my plumber and have him check everything that carries water. It's not a buzzing like bees or hornets or wasps. If anyone solves this, please let me know. Desperate:( , in the country, in Southern Oregon.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jwalker2007

Hello, I hope you folks can help me.

Recently, we have been hearing a loud, low frequency "hum" throughout our house. I have turned the main power off to determine whether it's electrical. It's not. The noise does sound like a "fog horn" going off several blasts at a time and the noise level is constant in every level/room.

I think this is a water pipe humming problem like other people have described. However, I have turned the water main off and the problem does not go away! A quick check of indoor faucets and toilets didn't really turn up the culprit.

I recently got a lawn sprinkler installed. I can't really check its pipes. Could this be the source of the problem too?

Before I call a plumber, is there anything else I should try? Attic/roof inspection? Gas line? Structure?

Any suggestion would be appreciated. This noise is very annoying.

Cheers.

---

I am interest to hear if you got any answers. I too hear since 2006 a hum noise and I went to a german side www. Igzab.de also in english that my gve you a clou how difficult it is to find the hum noise. My problem is sleeping. What country do you live in.
The noise appears in nz germany switzerland usa etc
I would like to hear from you I just don't know how it would work

Hello. Well, the humming noise in my house is still there after a year. As I said before, we had the power cut by the power company. Still humming. Shut down the water pump at the pump house. Still humming. :confused: It was suggested that someone nearby was running a dialysis machine. Not. My closest neighbor is at least a quarter mile away. The hum is not outside, only heard inside, and mostly at night or early in the morning when there are no other distracting noises. As someone else has said, ear plugs do not help. I have decided I will have to live with this and have been offered no other suggestions
Sue... Southern Oregon

Give speedball1 and award!!

We had the humming noise and searched all over the house. We thought it was probably electrical. We then read this message thread, read the answer from speedball1 and checked. It was the toilet.

This saved us a tremendous hassle and cost.

THANK YOU SPEEDBALL1!!

Speedball1,

Does the humming that you described coming from a toilet only occur when the
Main water line to the house is on? I hear the humming even when I turn the
Water off.

I had the power company shut down the power. I shut off the water at the pump house. Still humming. Has been for a year now. Not a toilet or fridge or any appliance. Even removed batteries from anything that used them. Still humming. Cannot be heard outside, only inside. :confused:

I had / have a similar experience in my home when I first moved in... a rumbling, sometimes humming noise that sounded like a train a distance away. It turned out to be my turbine roof vents, totally wind operated. Just thought I would pass that along... house noises can come from anywhere!

For the past month, been hearing humming noise in the evening, also though it was a vehicle with its engine running but was wrong, ask neighbors and whenever people were in my house - nobody hears it but me, its not electrical, plumbing or rodents in the attic. Very faith humming noise. Sometimes think its someone playing music and I hear the bass, wrong again. Tried to ignore it, but cant. Check out this URL below, maybe my problem as well as yours?

Mystery humming sound captured - Technology - theage.com.au





QUOTE=diamdave]We have had this problem in Chicago for over three years now.
First we thought it was the frig, the turned off the power main, still hear it. Sounds like a truck idling outside, but go outside and its dead quiet. Go inside and its omnidirectional in the home.
We installed airport noise abatement windows in our bedroom. That muffled the cars and voices outside, but did nothing for this low hum.

Among the things we checked:

* Hum heard with power main 'off'
* No attic fan
* No sump pump
* Gutters are tight
* roof antenna tight
* Chimney has a cap
* Someone mentioned it might be wind over the toilet roof vents/stacks. I don't know, anybody ever hear of this?
* Hot water tank new... 3 years old, seems quiet
* Heard with heat or a/c off.
* Plumbing seems quiet.
* We have flat roof vents, but so do our neighbors, don't hear the sound
* 75% of backyard is concrete, but I thought concrete is a sound blocker, not transmitter.
* Had gas lines checked, all OK
* Had chimney cleaned, some nesting and a dead bird clay liner shifted slightly, but otherwise OK.
* We have an extension back room on our second floor. Has one gable vent, separate from attic. Also has its own independent gas heater, we never use, but has its own vent stack on roof.

We are at a loss. Bothers me more than my wife. NOt loud, but low, fan and ear plugs do not mask it. ANY remedies you can offer? Solve this and I'll fly you in and treat you to any meal in any restaurant in Chicago you want. Really. Please help, Dave[/QUOTE]

You said "nobody hears it but me"... ever hear of tinnitis? I used to go to a lot of rock concerts... the humming was always there... it goes away in 10- 15 years.

Thank you for your response, thought at first it may have been tinnitus but its not, very low grade vibration humming only hear at home, its not constant, fades and returns - only in the evening, after reading other blogs it maybe transformer or pool pump. However, when I go outside it disappears.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jwalker2007

Hello, I hope you folks can help me.

Recently, we have been hearing a loud, low frequency "hum" throughout our house. I have turned the main power off to determine whether it's electrical. It's not. The noise does sound like a "fog horn" going off several blasts at a time and the noise level is constant in every level/room.

I think this is a water pipe humming problem like other people have described. However, I have turned the water main off and the problem does not go away! A quick check of indoor faucets and toilets didn't really turn up the culprit.

I recently got a lawn sprinkler installed. I can't really check its pipes. Could this be the source of the problem too?

Before I call a plumber, is there anything else I should try? Attic/roof inspection? Gas line? Structure?

Any suggestion would be appreciated. This noise is very annoying.

Cheers.

---

I have the same problem. It's a humming noise that started a couple of months ago and is only heard at night. It doesn't bother my wife but its very annoying to me. I turn the power off and check out side and the humming noise is only inside. Very confusing.. have you found anything on your end?

slkot,
Suggest that you purchase a engine stethoscope from automotive parts store and use it to check plumbing. Sound can be transmitted through the pipes even thought the water is turned off. You can do the same thing with a short piece of hose or even a short piece of pipe. Place one end of the hose to the water pipe coming into the house and the other to your ear. You could use this method to check various places or items in you house to isolate the source.

Hey, I suggest you check if your windows are open while this happens because it could be anyone outside walking by, driving by,etc!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jwalker2007

Hello, I hope you folks can help me.

Recently, we have been hearing a loud, low frequency "hum" throughout our house. I have turned the main power off to determine whether it's electrical. It's not. The noise does sound like a "fog horn" going off several blasts at a time and the noise level is constant in every level/room.

I think this is a water pipe humming problem like other people have described. However, I have turned the water main off and the problem does not go away! A quick check of indoor faucets and toilets didn't really turn up the culprit.

I recently got a lawn sprinkler installed. I can't really check its pipes. Could this be the source of the problem too?

Before I call a plumber, is there anything else I should try? Attic/roof inspection? Gas line? Structure?

Any suggestion would be appreciated. This noise is very annoying.

Cheers.

---

Hearing humming noise based on my search is from either the sounds of planet moving caused by electromagnetic forces. Some people can hear it, and they are called "HEARER". Several years ago Japanese scientist look for the noise source, and could not find the source except the above COSMOS noise.
I hope this help.

I haven't read all of the posts so I don't know if this is relevant to you (maybe you tried this already). We had a low frequency vibration in the house for the past month (that only I could hear) and finally today, I think we've tracked it down. Our water softener has a bypass mode so we turned it to that mode so that water would no longer be diverted through the softener. Suddenly, no more noise. We took it off bypass and soon, I heard the noise again. We'll probably have to replace the softener and hope we don't have the same problem with the new one. Good luck.

I too have had the humming noise and recently vibrations. A variety of contractors have checked the entire house out and did eliminate some noise, but the humming continues. What I believe the humming and vibration noise is coming from is seismic/earthquake activity. I live in an area where earthquake activity is not common so I never considered it, but recently I found out that there was a 3.9 earthquake 2 hours east in the last 6 months, and the USGS installed a broadband earthquake monitor an hour west of our house (in an area which has never had an earthquake). I have been monitoring the humming noise with the earthquake monitor which is on the internet (see link below) - the monitor is real-time, and the noise level corresponds with the earthquake activity.

Seismic Network Operations

The "Heliplot" tab shows the seismic info.

Here is another link for Texas seismic info: TexSeis Home

(click on the "Recent Helicorder Displays" to show real-time earthquake readings)

I'm having the same problem my husband has a reward in place to anyone who can solve this mystery noise.We moved in May of this year to a 21 year old home did all the renovations had all sorts of trades in here. And every body is at a loss! Here's the best part this rumbling noise that last approximatley 10 to 20 seconds is non exsisting on the weekends.Stop at 5:00p.m Fri. and starts up Mon. 8:00 a.m.
Anyone please help!

I had a third pest control person out, and this one said that it could be mud dauber(s) in the wall because they flap their little wings and can cause a lot of noise. He said the humming definitely was not bees or wasps. We are going to plug the weep holes with copper wool so that they cannot come & go, & plug other cracks, etc. Apparently the mud daubers are hard to see in action because they come & go every 1/2 hour.

Any chance you could call the previous owners and see if they had this issue? Maybe they can offer some help in finding out what the problem noise is. And as far as insects, I don't think they take weekends off. Do you hae any timers which control pumps or attic fans? Any trains near you that could run on different schedules on the weekend? Just grasping at straws here, but if you have a timetable it's likely a timed event, either mechanical or human affected.

Has anyone installed Ridge Vents on their roof? They are causing the humming. I have just discovered that when using ridge vents for attic ventilation you must close off the gable vents, turbines, & louvers. More importantly, you have to allow sufficient soffit airway passage in order for the ridge vents to work properly. Along with the constant humming and wind variance, I believe my ridge vents are creating a negative pressure and are bringing in the traffic noise during rush hour and at night when trucks travel the freeway. Here are a couple links with info:

On The House with the Carey Bros. & Rebecca Cole. : Attic Ventilation -> Weekly Project

Air Vent: Troubleshooting Tips

Unfortunately, the roofing contractor who replaced the roof does not know how ridge vents work and how they interact with soffits. I am calling another company to fix the mess. Wish there was a ridge vent class action -- or there should be.

Do you have a programmable thermostat, alarm system, water heater timer, any kind of timing device that might be set one way during the week and another during the weekend. You say the rumbling last 10-20 seconds, how long between rumblings.

Hi,

I just read your letters regarding the humming problem you have or have had in your homes. I noticed that the letters were posted back in 2007. I was just wondering if you have had any luck locating the source of this humming noise.

Unfortunately for the past month I too have been experiencing the very same type of noise in my home. Like you no one else in the house can hear it. I too am at my wits end. I cannot get any sleep. It is the most annoying, exasperating noise I have been experienced. It is a low frequency, vibrating, mechanical, fog-like, intermittent noise. I can also hear it everywhere in the house. I too am considering selling my house and moving on. I just cannot tolerate the constant, irritating noise any longer. Again, ear plugs make it worse.

I like you have tried everything possible. Stopped whirly birds, called PUC to check water lines and turn off electricity, called the gas company to turn off gas. I just had a college professor come over with a special monitor for low frequency sounds and it definitely shows a huge difference from regular noise to low frequency noise, but cannot identify exactly where the source is coming from as it is everywhere in the house.

My family is going insane because I am driving them crazy. It is very upsetting that no one else can hear it when it is like having my head inside of an engine.

I know that there has to be a logical explanation, but I don’t know what else can be done at this point.

I would appreciate any suggestions you may have. As I stated above, I have already done everything suggested in the replies you previously received.

Thanks again.

Stumped in Canada

Hi Again,

I think we may have solved our mysterious humming noise and I hope this may help you. I was away for the weekend and when I returned home on Sunday night, the noise was gone. It is something totally interesting.

Do any of you by any chance have climbing vines on your homes? While I was away, my husband cut 300 to 400 feet of climbing vines from the side of our home. The vines had intertwined into the eaves troughing. The vines of course came from the ground to the roof. It seems that the vines were creating some sort of contact electrode. We all know that there is always vibration in the ground and by the vines touching the ground were picking up some sort of vibration and carrying it to the eaves troughing and causing the humming sound against the aluminum and then throughout the whole house. I don't know if this will be of help, but I do hope so. As stated in my last letter I know how annoying and frustrating this noise is especially because no one else in the house can hear it. I was at my wits end and ready to put the For Sale Sign up. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Hopefully no longer stumped in Canada