It is quite possible that the OP had an Auditory hallucination, which are not uncommon when there is silence.
I have had them myself- usually a “beep” noise.
I have considered that. I think if I had not just gone to bed and was drifting off, it would be more plausible but it could be.
That is a good time for those things to happem.
I am not a real Doctor
Oops. I meant I was not drifting off at the time. I had just settled down and was fully awake.
There is some kind of creature in the yard that makes the same sound as the low battery beep on the detector. When I’m outside, I keep thinking the battery needs changing. It’s been years and I am mostly used to it, but when it’s been quiet for awhile, it catches me off guard.
Many, many years ago I lived in an apartment in Santa Monica. We would keep the windows open most seasons, and I would be awakened frequently by the loud sound of an old-fashioned telephone ringing. It turned out to be a mockingbird who liked to hang out in the tree by my bedroom.
Back to @aurora_maire ‘s mystery beep. My refrigerator will beep a few times very softly when it wants me to change a filter. The bread machine, dishwasher, and toaster oven also beep very quietly when they’ve finished a cycle, but I’m pretty sure you’d know if it was one of them.
ETA: and my landline phone chirps when it is charging.
We had our current dishwasher for at least 18 months before I knew that it beeps quietly when the cycle is finished. I only really hang out near the kitchen when I am preparing or eating meals. It was a huge surprise to me when I finally figured out what it was.
Any electric alarm clocks with a battery backup that has given up the ghost? It may be telling you so.
I have a Fossil Hybrid watch that I stopped wearing years ago. It had an alarm set to go off on a certain day and time during the week. Once I retired I kept hearing this strange beep every so often when I was home, drove me nuts until I found the watch in a drawer and started wearing it again and then it started beeping one morning. It must have been doing that for years while I was at work!
Oh, yeah, the “beeping birds”. Drove us nuts when we first moved into one house. Eventually we realized the beeping is coming from outside the house [Cue eerie music]. Stoopit birds.
Of particular note is the dawn chorus. I’m hearing it right now despite it being the dead of winter because of some apparently very hardy and cold-resistent songbirds. It’s much louder in the spring and summer.
But in the previous house, which was right next to an enormous forested green space rife with wildlife, the dawn chorus was a positively annoying cacophony when I was up late. I mean, I love songbirds, but is this really necessary? Can’t they just hold up signs or something saying “this is my territory”?
Last fall, my smoke detector’s batteries failed. Not too big a surprise; it’s lasted all of the over-a-decade I’ve been in the apartment, and who knows how long before that. But it would not shut up. The switch on the back that’s supposed to stop the beeping and permanently disable the device did nothing. When the maintenance guy came to install the new one, he didn’t take the old one with him. And it’s a radioactive one, so I don’t want to just throw it away in the ordinary trash. It kept on beeping, intermittently, for months. Eventually, I had to bury it under a pile of old clothes in a different room, in order to be able to sleep at night.
OMG @Chronos are you now certifiably insane.
I would be. Jesus H., dude!!!
As for getting rid of it and you actually having to hide it away in your home, for quiet. I don’t know that I wouldn’t be tempted to leave it outside my home, accidentally on purpose!
There are limits a body can endure. (I said tempted)
There must be a way to dispose of these things.
It was you. You’re an AI robot.
This is the perfect spot for my smoke detector tutorial:
There are mainly two types of detectors.
The photoelectric detector has a chamber inside with a light source and a receptor, which is out of the direct path of the light. When visible smoke enters the detector it reflects the light into the receptor and the detector is triggered.
The ionization detector does not actually detect visible smoke. It is triggered by the non visible particles of combustion. Ionization-type smoke alarms have a small amount of radioactive material between two electrically charged plates, which ionizes the air and causes current to flow between the plates. When smoke enters the chamber, it disrupts the flow of ions, thus reducing the flow of current and activating the alarm. however, the visible aspect of the smoke is not what causes this. This detector reacts to the non visible product of combustion. The delightful odor of frying bacon, for example, is actually the non visible product of combustion.
The differences of these are important. An ionization detector will not pick up smoldering fires such as a cigarette fallen between couch cushions or most wastebasket types of fires. Extension cords under carpet also are smoldering type. A chimney fire due to creosote build up will also likely be unnoticed.
The best home fire detection appliances are combination Photo/Carbon Monoxide detectors.
these are the detectors in my home
This is a six minute video showing some actual testing of Photo vs. Ion detection:
h ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnlkiZC0dd0&t=14s
(delete the space after h to see the video)
I worked as an electrician specializing in fire alarm installation, programming and service for 42 years.
I took some americium smoke detectors to the local recycling yard once, and they told me that the best way to get rid of them is actually to put them in your ordinary trash, one per week. They said if they collected them at the recycling yard and stored them all in one place, the radiation level could become dangerous, but tossing them in the trash one at a time is fine.
I’d still feel iffy about that. I’d want a place where you’re specifically supposed to take them. I don’t think that “the radiation level” would actually be a problem; they’re well-shielded (they’re alpha sources; it’s tough to make an alpha source not be well-shielded). The problem isn’t radiation escaping them; the problem is material getting out and getting into the water supply, or anything else that makes it into living organisms.
I’ve heard that the local Home Despot will dispose of old smoke detectors; I should look into that (though it’s a lot less urgent, now that the battery has finished completely dying).
Do those not have at least a short-term battery backup (that recharges when power is on)? I’m pretty sure that my wired smoke detectors are still working even during a power outage of a day or two.
You didn’t consider the case of a fire started at your main electrical panel. That is a high-powered fire that quickly kills the electrcity to the house as the wires and breakers are consumed.
The last time I had a phantom beeping at our house it turned out it was a meat thermometer that had gotten buried in a kitchen drawer with dying batteries. Took me about a week to track the damn thing down.