Anybody know about chimneys? Antennas? Insulation? Calling all builders, etc.

Is that square silvery thing a grill? On the left at ground floor level, just behind the rainwater downpipe.
 
if you mean behind the rainpipe but more at head level, that is a block window. We have a few of those in the house. Interesting thing.... there are block windows on that side of the house, but when you stand in our living room you can't see them! The inside wall there must have been built by some previous owners... maybe they didn't like light, I don't know.

If you look at the left lower corner of the front of the house, there is a green bush. Hard to see, but behind that there is a vent that went into the furnace.. fresh air. We duct-taped that closed thinking that was the culprit, but it made no difference.
 
Two additional points:

It seems much quieter when there is snow. I' have conjectured that snow on 1)power lines 2) roof vents 2) chimney cap may be responsible for the silence.

Can power lines attached to a brick/masonry outside cause a low hum or drone?

Can a tight chimney cap set off a hum? (Maybe the snow gets on the flue, silences it...?

Our backyard is 75% concrete. Previous owner was a k9 trainer for Chicago Police, trained his dogs back there. Does concrete block or conduct sound?

Finally, I thought maybe being on a corner, snow could weigh down sewer drains in our intersection... but if the sewer drains were vibrating, surely our neighbors on the other three corners could hear it...?:confused:
 
Can power lines attached to a brick/masonry outside cause a low hum or drone?
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Yep.

And snow acts as a mechanical damper, so if that helps a good guess is something that gets covered with snow....

TLM
 
diamdave,

Hopefully this can help in some way. I recently attended a training course that certified me in the use of an SDT airborne ultrasound detector. One of the primary uses of this device is to detect defective electrical equipment and many problems with electrical systems in general. It is possible there could be some problems with the electrical lines and as mentioned it is transmitted through the lines and into your chimmeny.

You may try contacting your elec. company and inquire if they utilize upltrasound to detect problems. They may or may not be aware of the tecnology. If they can't help there may be someone in your area that contracts to do Airborne Ultrasound Testing and for a fee could come out and contuct some tests for you. If that fails you can contact SDT
http://www.sdt.be/ and maybe they can refer you to someone.
 
Arthur, excellent! thanks...

If it is power lines, would the sound still be omnidirectional or would I be able to locate the sound where the lines connect to the outside brick wall?

I ask because the sound seems to be omnidirectional, not loudest in the room where the lines connect.
 
If it is power lines, would the sound still be omnidirectional or would I be able to locate the sound where the lines connect to the outside brick wall?
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Depends on the fixture, the worst case is that the whole wall is acting like a giant membrane, thats unlikely though. As I said before, if a sandbag properly placed dampens the sound, you have found the source.

TLM
 
diamdave said:
Arthur, excellent! thanks...

If it is power lines, would the sound still be omnidirectional or would I be able to locate the sound where the lines connect to the outside brick wall?

I ask because the sound seems to be omnidirectional, not loudest in the room where the lines connect.
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I'm not versed enough to awnser that question intelligently. I'm certified but have very little hands on experiance in using the device at this point. My guess is the lines may be conducting the sound into your house and something is amplifiing the noise. The SDT unit is what can detect the possible cause. It hears elec noise not audible to our ears.

Say the transformer on your pole is going bad. It could be giving off noise that we are unable to hear but will transmit that vibration through the lines then possibly something in your house is conducting the sound and causing the noise. Thats where the Ultrasound device comes into play. It can listen to the electrical system and detect the noise possibly allowing the elec company to repair or replace what is going bad saving them money and you the sound problem.
 
Arthur Washburn said:
Say the transformer on your pole is going bad. It could be giving off noise that we are unable to hear but will transmit that vibration through the lines then possibly something in your house is conducting the sound and causing the noise. Thats where the Ultrasound device comes into play. It can listen to the electrical system and detect the noise possibly allowing the elec company to repair or replace what is going bad saving them money and you the sound problem.
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Good suggestion Arthur. We had a pole mounted transformer behind our house that used to hum. One day if caught fire. It was quiet when they replaced it. The technology of something humming at one end of a wire and listening to it at the other end is the same as the experiment with two baked bean cans connected by string that we did as kids.

diamdave. Have you tried turning all the power off to your house at the distribution/fuse box? A lot of electrical things hum, especially refrigeration.
 
Yes... the first thing I thought of when I first heard it was the Frig... so we turned off the frig, and still heard it. That's when we went downstairs and turned off the power main... and still heard it. That is where I am confused and admittedly ignorant... if the power main is turned off, where clocks, appliances, everything is off... do I understand correctly that the source could STILL be electrical??
 
Well yes. If you switch off the power at the box, then that shuts off all the applicances in your house, but Arthur's excellent suggestion is that the transformer is buzzing and transmitting the sound to your wall. The fact it is carrying electricity is irrelevant, it is transmitting sound, not electricity to your house via a taught wire. Not being funny, but when I was at school we did an experiment with a couple of baked beans cans and 20 foot of tightly pulled string attached to the bottom of the cans. When one person talks into the can, the other person can hear the words by putting a can to the ear. The electricity transformer is talking to your house via the taught wire.
 
Andrew Taylor said:
Well yes. If you switch off the power at the box, then that shuts off all the applicances in your house, but Arthur's excellent suggestion is that the transformer is buzzing and transmitting the sound to your wall. The fact it is carrying electricity is irrelevant, it is transmitting sound, not electricity to your house via a taught wire. Not being funny, but when I was at school we did an experiment with a couple of baked beans cans and 20 foot of tightly pulled string attached to the bottom of the cans. When one person talks into the can, the other person can hear the words by putting a can to the ear. The electricity transformer is talking to your house via the taught wire.
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When you turn off the main breaker in you panel all your shutting down is everything on your breakers. The service cable going into your panel is still hot (live). Electricity causes vibrations which causes loose connections.
 
UPDATE:
Chimney guy was here. Outside of some nesting at bottom in basement, i.e. deadbirds, etc (yech) the chimney is in great condition. He says there is no sweating, the liner has shifted slightly which is very common but in no way would be contributing to the sound. Chimney looked very clean, as it should be with no fireplace in the home. In 28 years, he has never come across this problem :(

He did see a short rod next to our house, he doesn't know but thinks maybe it is some kind of grounding system and that it might be picking up ground-born vibrations somehow. So, he's thinking the cause is ground-based not acoustical via chimney nor toilet stacks.

Back to square one, I haven't a clue...
 
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