Unidentifiable Noise - Any ideas?!

[WhitleyMal]

We have been suffering from an intermittent, low frequency noise for some months now. The sound is similar to what a diesel engine on the street outside would sound like - a very low, oscillating ‘hum’ and slight vibration. It varies in volume, sometimes seems to pulse – like a pump - and can often be loud and irritating enough to wake us in the middle of the night. We are unable to locate the source, as the sound appears throughout the house and feels as if it’s coming from all around – making us think it could be pipes or the electrical system (although we’ve switched off the electricity and can still hear the hum). It is louder in the loft, where the boiler is located. When it is particularly windy, however, the sound can kick-in extremely loudly and is clearly emanating from the boiler (and becomes less noisy again when the boiler is switched off). I wonder whether this is a result of some sort of back draft into the boiler flue, which is through the gable end wall, though I’ve been told by a plumber that this isn’t possible. The boiler is a Baxi Platinum 40 HE A and was installed in December 2013 – the plumber says he can see nothing wrong with it. We first heard the noise around the time it was installed. I am a lay-person when it comes to plumbing and our plumber is baffled – especially as the noise can occur even when the heating is off (it’s worse or certainly more noticeable in the middle of the night). It is usually no louder at the boiler than in the rest of the loft, except when a gust of wind seems to cause something to happen in the boiler itself. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated, because it’s so annoying and is stopping us sleep and has got to a point where we’re considering moving house to escape it!

 

[kris]

Hi there whitelymal and welcome to the forum., how long does this noise last ? if your saying it happens slightly when boilers off then you can forget the boiler id think, is your property a joined to another ? could it be next doors as some pipe hammer or swollen diaphragms can make really loud noises , or it may be a swollen diaphragm in yours ?

 

[IDCHAPPY]

Odd, but as above check water hammer in mains water pipes and if the boilers off and it happens, well kinda rules that out.
I've heard similar noises from boiler bit before though.

 

[jtsplumbing]

Could be something as simple as a wc cistern ball valve, did you used to have water tanks in loft B4 boiler was replaced ?

 

[PETE 123]

I would take a guess here when boiler was put in all was put on the mains water but maybe the ball valve washer on wcs where not upgraded to hp ones.

 

[WhitleyMal]

Hi there whitelymal and welcome to the forum., how long does this noise last ? if your saying it happens slightly when boilers off then you can forget the boiler id think, is your property a joined to another ? could it be next doors as some pipe hammer or swollen diaphragms can make really loud noises , or it may be a swollen diaphragm in yours ?

Hi Kris and thanks for your reply. Once it kicks in it generally lasts several hours. We're in a semi, but we've spoken with the neighbours and they've never heard it. Swollen Diaphragm in what? Sorry, I'm a layman when it comes to plumbing!

 

[wiggers]

If you have humming or loud noises start by narrowing down the cause a lot of the problems
are - run hot tap any noise chances are if you have a CWSC in loft or on top of cylinder float valve has gone and requires replacement don't mess around repairing there about six quid.
Run cold taps any noise could be a number of things wc float valve, taps or incoming main stopcock under stairs
good luck

 

[bright spark]

Gonna be a process of elimination. Maybe turn off your incoming water mains tonight. That'll rule out any noise from storage tank ball clock.
If that's not the noise, turn off power to boiler tomorrow night. See if that stops it. Your just going to have to do the likes of that till ye cop it.
one of my friends years ago moved into a house. Thought it was haunted, they could hear twinkle twinkle little star music from time to time at night time. Eventually they found it was coming through wireless door bell speaker picking up signal from someone else's house. Well anyway the noise stopped. It certainly spooked them.

 

[WhitleyMal]

If you have humming or loud noises start by narrowing down the cause a lot of the problems
are - run hot tap any noise chances are if you have a CWSC in loft or on top of cylinder float valve has gone and requires replacement don't mess around repairing there about six quid.
Run cold taps any noise could be a number of things wc float valve, taps or incoming main stopcock under stairs
good luck

Thanks Wiggers, but the noise doesn't occur as a response to turning taps or or off. Have tried eliminating things by turning heating/ elecs/ water off etc. Will maybe try leaving water off all night next...

 

[WhitleyMal]

Gonna be a process of elimination. Maybe turn off your incoming water mains tonight. That'll rule out any noise from storage tank ball clock.
If that's not the noise, turn off power to boiler tomorrow night. See if that stops it. Your just going to have to do the likes of that till ye cop it.
one of my friends years ago moved into a house. Thought it was haunted, they could hear twinkle twinkle little star music from time to time at night time. Eventually they found it was coming through wireless door bell speaker picking up signal from someone else's house. Well anyway the noise stopped. It certainly spooked them.

Thanks. Do you think turning the boiler power off will have any any different effect than the heating itself being off? We'll keep trying to eliminate things...

 

[R.Oak]

If turning the boiler off helps with the noise then it isnt wind in the flue.

 

[SJB]

My money's on a diaphragm gone somewhere. Isolate the loos overnight if you can and see if that does the trick. If you live in a terrace or a semi it could also be a diaphragm in one of the neighbours. That humming travels well.

 

[oz-plumber]

It could be the boiler.

Some of the Baxi boilers you can program the pump to stay on.
There are also some other parameter settings which can cause the unit to pre- heat the water to a set temperature, which will cause the boiler to come on at different intervals depending on the temperature of the water in the boiler.

Might be worth having that checked out.

 

[rpm]

My money's on a diaphragm gone somewhere. Isolate the loos overnight if you can and see if that does the trick. If you live in a terrace or a semi it could also be a diaphragm in one of the neighbours. That humming travels well.

Easiest way to check the loo is to wipe dry all around the toilet bowl then place single squares of dry paper around the bowl and see if any get wet.

 

[zzzjim]

I experience something similar at night , reverberating more in some rooms than others .

Cause local lorry park - within a mile + wind direction + parked up Chlller trailers ---

_ isolated incoming Water supply thinking it was to blame !

A bit like fair ground generators --deep and distant ! ONLY just audible ... but no sleep arrggggg

 

[cazzapop]

We have been suffering from an intermittent, low frequency noise for some months now. The sound is similar to what a diesel engine on the street outside would sound like - a very low, oscillating ‘hum’ and slight vibration. It varies in volume, sometimes seems to pulse – like a pump - and can often be loud and irritating enough to wake us in the middle of the night. We are unable to locate the source, as the sound appears throughout the house and feels as if it’s coming from all around – making us think it could be pipes or the electrical system (although we’ve switched off the electricity and can still hear the hum). It is louder in the loft, where the boiler is located. When it is particularly windy, however, the sound can kick-in extremely loudly and is clearly emanating from the boiler (and becomes less noisy again when the boiler is switched off). I wonder whether this is a result of some sort of back draft into the boiler flue, which is through the gable end wall, though I’ve been told by a plumber that this isn’t possible. The boiler is a Baxi Platinum 40 HE A and was installed in December 2013 – the plumber says he can see nothing wrong with it. We first heard the noise around the time it was installed. I am a lay-person when it comes to plumbing and our plumber is baffled – especially as the noise can occur even when the heating is off (it’s worse or certainly more noticeable in the middle of the night). It is usually no louder at the boiler than in the rest of the loft, except when a gust of wind seems to cause something to happen in the boiler itself. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated, because it’s so annoying and is stopping us sleep and has got to a point where we’re considering moving house to escape it!

I have this exact same problem!! Did you find a solution?????
Sounds like a pump or a lorry idling a few streets away. Can hear it in every room in house.
Ive had environmental health out trying to track source!
Going crazy from it. It never stops!