Causing the loud, electrical humming noise in the walls

noise reduction

I have a loud electrical sounding humming noise that is vibrating through my house, and appears to be coming through the adjoining wall of my neighbour's house. It starts and stops at any time of day or night, even with my electricity / heating / water turned off at the mains.

I have asked my neighbour to flick off his mains switch to try and determine whose house this is coming from, but he is not willing to do this. How can I detect / monitor where exactly the noise is coming from.

Best Answer

Your neighbour must be hearing it as well then, correct? Can you hear it from outside?

First culprits I would look at:

  • furnace fan or forced exhaust fan
  • forced exhaust fan of a high-efficiency gas water heater
  • HRV unit
  • attic fan
  • bathroom fan

Ideally you or your neighbour could stand in his/her utility room while the sound is happening, and hopefully narrow it down. Turning off one of those at a time may also help narrow it down. Either way, you're going to have to work with your neighbour to solve it, if you are positive it isn't coming from in your house.