Ack! Under siege by subsonics!

[alexxkay]

I've been having lots of trouble sleeping lately. I had been attributing it to the tooth issues, and I still think that is partially true. But since it cooled off and I turned off my air conditioner (a major source of white noise), I started noticing an annoying near-subsonic hum in my room. It came and went, but while it was going, it prevented sleep, or caused what sleep I did get to be nightmare-laden.

At first, I suspected late night laundry or dishwasher loads to be the culprit. It had a periodic fade-out, fade-back-in behavior which seemed simiilar to those appliances' duty cycles. Last night, woken by the hum at 2:30 AM, I pestered some wakeful roommates about it. However, long after those loads had completed, the hum remained. I poked around the house, turning off every electronic device I could find. No dice.

My next thought -- could it possibly be one of the fans mounted in the roof, that somehow went amok and turned itself on? Once kestrell was awake (so I wouldn't be disturbing *her* sleep), I went about excavating the junk in the front room so I could get access to the eaves. The fan that is near the trap door was quiescent. The 'passage' further into the house was barely large enough to fit me, and didn't actually have flooring, just beams and insulation, so after poking my head in a short ways, I gave up on that approach. My only remaining hope was to try selectively turning off circuit breakers until I found the offending cirduit -- and hope that it was a circuit that wasn't being shared by other, vital systems.

I enlisted kestrell's help in this plan, but she soon short-circuited it by applying her super-blink senses to the hum, and quickly pinpointing its actual source. Sadly, this knowledge makes things worse, not better. It's the heating system, which we can't exactly leave turned off.

I'm now googling for help with this problem. Any advice would be appreciated.

ETA: I have a white noise machine already, it's just ineffective against sounds in this frequency range.

Comments

[rufinia.livejournal.com]

A non-AC white noise machine?

How frustrating!

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

I think a good step would be to have the heating system inspected and cleaned, if it hasn't been done recently (mine is supposed to have this done every year.) There may be a fan or belt or god-knows-what that needs replacement, or gunk which is causing a harmonic.

Once that's been done, and it still makes noise, you may need to buy a white noise machine. There are many types to choose from, including nature sounds, or just plain noise, as well as noise CDs and fans. Amazon has many things under "white noise machine."

Re: How frustrating!

[umbran.livejournal.com]

Seconded. If it is the same old system, and it is making a new noise, that suggests something in the system has changed. Normal wear and tear effects pumps and the like. Have them inspected, cleaned, and serviced. It'll probably also save you some of your heating bill...

[corwyn-ap.livejournal.com]

Any idea what part of the heating system is humming? Hot water heating systems don't usually have hums; bangs, squeeks, yes. There are a few pumps but they seemed quiet when I last looked at it. Certainly nothing that should be heard from the basement to the attic. You might try some pipe insulation on the pipes in your room (which will reduce your heating slightly)

I am amazed that you aren't bothered by the one thing that always gets me, namely the utility step-down transformer in the box outside the salvation army house next door. Evil that is.

[alexx-kay.livejournal.com]

There are vibrations coming through the pipes in the third floor hallway, causing the hum.

I am amazed that you aren't bothered by the one thing that always gets me, namely the utility step-down transformer in the box outside the salvation army house next door. Evil that is.

It certainly has evil states, but it is quiescent most of the time, and doesn't bother me then.

[corwyn-ap.livejournal.com]

They make acoustic damping pipe clamps. Basically it is a rubber lined clamp which is then secured to something solid. If you can't find any, a one size too big clamp around a piece of neoprene (say an old mouse pad) might do the trick. Long runs are probably your first target.

[freerange-snark.livejournal.com]

That stupid thing drove me batty the first few months I lived here. But, like so many things, eventually I got used to it and hardly notice anymore. ...Except when it overloads, because then it sounds like something large exploded very nearby.

[freerange-snark.livejournal.com]

The heating system? That's on? News to me. Anyway, if it's making sounds it wasn't before, I'd check for mousey interference. They're certainly found of scrambling around in the heaters in my room, so maybe they have done/are doing something to affect the acoustics. Like, if they gnawed a pipe restraint loose or something. Or maybe they're jarring something down the line that's causing vibrations to travel up the pipe.