# Static Shocks and Beeps

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/static-shocks-and-beeps/284402>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 12, 2005, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/static-shocks-and-beeps/284402 "2005-01-12T16:07:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![asrivkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9d8465/32.png) [@asrivkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asrivkin)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/static-shocks-and-beeps/284402/1 "2005-01-12T16:07:51Z")

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I post this for my friend, who asked a group of us this question (names ellided to protect the innocent):

* * *

I have a question about a peculiar phenomenon in our house that’s really  
annoying me. Often when I touch something near a wall and get a static  
shock, it causes a single beep. As far as I can tell, the beep always has  
the same frequency and duration. There’s not a lot of directionality to  
the sound, but it generally seems to come from the walls. So far this has  
happened multiple times to both … and I in two different rooms. Can  
anyone give me a logical explanation for this? I’m a little concerned  
about the condition of the wiring in our house, and I’d really like it to  
stop beeping at me.

* * *

Additional info: They live in Flagstaff, AZ, which is at 7500 feet. I don’t know if this has been happening year-round or just in the winter.

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**Author:** ![SavageNarce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@SavageNarce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SavageNarce)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/static-shocks-and-beeps/284402/2 "2005-01-13T01:00:44Z")

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Sounds like he’s living in Bill Gates’ house - the one with the “living walls”. :eek:

I have never heard of such a thing, but I have a WAG: might the house have an alarm system that could pick up the discharges and give a “peep”, either from the alarm consoles, smoke detectors, or both?

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**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/static-shocks-and-beeps/284402/3 "2005-01-13T05:24:25Z")

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I’m suspecting it’s an ear problem not a wall problem. A static discharge has a wide range of frequencies in it, as do most “noise” type signals. If you are hearing one particular frequency more than others I suspect you either have a rather significant non-linearity in your hearing or perhaps you are getting some sort of resonnance somewhere in one or both ears. Hearing specialists can do an audiogram to check for these types of problems.

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**Author:** ![asrivkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9d8465/32.png) [@asrivkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asrivkin)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/static-shocks-and-beeps/284402/4 "2005-01-13T15:18:25Z")

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The claim is that they have hard-wired smoke detectors, but they didn’t particularly think the sound is coming from them. I doubt it’s a hearing issue since it happens to both her and her husband in two different rooms.

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**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/static-shocks-and-beeps/284402/5 "2005-01-13T18:01:17Z")

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Have them start a tape recorder running before they touch the wall, and see if the beep is audible on the tape. If not, then it’s gotta be in their heads.