On 01 Jan 2014, polygonum grunted in
:

On 01/01/2014 09:26, Brian Gaff wrote:
There is a peculiar noise. IE its one of those very quiet
intermittent whirring noises that you can only hear when its quiet at
night, and once you know its there, you find it wakes you up.
The problem is that its seemingly everywhere and nowhere in that its
no louder wherever you go except in the upstairs front rooms.
My suspicion is that it is part of next doors central heating that
is somehow transmitting the sound through the building, but she can
hear nothing she says.
Any tricks other than asking her to turn it off and on again, which
might well not go down too well?
Do others have noises? Add to this of course that you don't it when
normal sounds are there in the day.

Yes - for around seven years I have been very much more sensitive to
very low pitched sounds. I can be severely distracted and annoyed
whilst partner hears nothing. I notice other such sounds in many
places - not only at home. And the occasional aicraft. A hovering
police helicopter can be almost painful.

Interesting related piece on the likely cause of the "Bristol Hum":
http://tinyurl.com/k8yw55d (or http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Bristol-s-
mystery-hum-solved/story-11277492-detail/story.html)

--
David