Can anyone tell me what this noise is?

Factual Questions
1

I moved into my apartment in August, and I’ve been hearing this noise on and off since I moved in.

I can only describe it as the sound of a very distant washing machine on the “churn” cycle (as opposed to the spin cycle). The pulsing sound varies from about two pulses per second to one pulse every two seconds. It doesn’t come from an identifiable direction–every time I think it is coming from one wall, it sounds like it’s coming from another. It’s not particularly loud; when I watch TV, I don’t notice it, but when I try to study, it drives me crazy. When it appears, it usually lasts for about fifteen minutes.

My guess is that it has something to do with the plumbing. It almost sounds like water being forced through the pipes. It doesn’t sound mechanical (like a worn-out furnance or similar), because it sounds too distant, and too much like a whooshing-thump than a clank. I really have no other guess as to what it might be. And no, I don’t think it’s the neighbors being romantic.

2

What kind of HVAC system do you have? How often does it happen? Can you hear it outside your apartment (in a hall, yard or balcony)?

3

Does anyone in the neighborhood own a hot tub? They can make churny-gurgly noise that carry quite a distance.

4

Perhaps your neighbor has a bread machine.

5

Do you have a sump pump under your building?

6

It could be industrial subsonic noise (which tends to become VERY loud if your room acts as a resonant cavity.) If so, buy a big overstuffed chair, or perhaps find one of those “cubical walls” in a used furniture shop to act as a sound absorber.

On the other hand, maybe you’re hearing The Hum:

http://amasci.com/hum/hum.html

7

Quiet,Please…NO

8

If you have baseboard-type heating, it could be the circulating pump on the boiler.

When you turn on your hot-water faucet, do you have immediate hot water? If so, the noise could be a cycling circulation pump. Does one of your faucets drip? That could cause the pump to cycle. Or a dripping faucet in another apartment on the same line.

9

Sounds like a 1920’s style death ray.

10

Sounds like a washing machine to me. Regular cycle and delicates. After the sound stops, listen for the clank of buttons and zippers and stuff being tumble dried… especially after the 2 per second version.

Maybe your neighbor has one of those stackable apartment-size washer-dryer combos. I had one in an apartment in college and it was a wonderful convenience.

11

If the apartment building has a lawn sprinkler system, the noise could be from the water pipes when it is operating.

Of course, that probably shouldn’t happen in the winter unless you live in the sun belt.

12

Had the same thing when I lived in one of my Delaware apartments. It drove me nuts, and I mostly couldn’t sleep in that room (my bedroom). I hope you find out what it is.

13

Check these out:
<http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a981218.html>
<http://www.earthpulse.com/science/taoshum.html>
In the UK <http://homepages.tesco.net/~John.Dawes2/>

14

Check these out:
<http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a981218.html>
<http://www.earthpulse.com/science/taoshum.html>
In the UK <http://homepages.tesco.net/~John.Dawes2/>

“Beware of the Cog”