u/HakunaMaPooTa

I live in an older condo/co-op building and ever since recent boiler work, there’s been this deep humming/rumbling noise that happens every 10-15 minutes, mostly at night. Sometimes it changes pitch before stopping. It’s loud enough to wake me up inside my apartment.

I finally tracked it down and it’s definitely loudest outside near the boiler exhaust outlet. There’s also now a clicking/ticking sound when it happens. The exhaust smoke/steam also seems heavier during the noise and sometimes smells faintly like gas/exhaust.

My HOA already had the “boiler guy” come out. He apparently didn’t identify anything obvious wrong, but he did replace the fan thinking that might help. Unfortunately the sound is still happening.

What’s weird is:

   •   it seems worse at night

   •   cooler/damp weather seems to make it worse

   •   it cycles on and off instead of being constant

   •   it almost sounds like resonance/vibration more than a normal mechanical noise

   •  

Anyone who works with boilers/HVAC recognize this type of sound?

I live in an older condo/co-op building and ever since recent boiler work, there’s been this deep humming/rumbling noise that happens every 10-15 minutes, mostly at night. Sometimes it changes pitch before stopping. It’s loud enough to wake me up inside my apartment.

I finally tracked it down and it’s definitely loudest outside near the boiler exhaust outlet. There’s also now a clicking/ticking sound when it happens. The exhaust smoke/steam also seems heavier during the noise and sometimes smells faintly like gas/exhaust.

My HOA already had the “boiler guy” come out. He apparently didn’t identify anything obvious wrong, but he did replace the fan thinking that might help. Unfortunately the sound is still happening.

What’s weird is:

   •   it seems worse at night

   •   cooler/damp weather seems to make it worse

   •   it cycles on and off instead of being constant

   •   it almost sounds like resonance/vibration more than a normal mechanical noise

  

Anyone who works with boilers/HVAC recognize this type of sound?

Losing my mind over a low “foghorn” noise every 10–15 min at night… what could this be?

I genuinely don’t know what to do anymore and I’m hoping someone here has experienced something similar.

For the past 2 weeks, there’s been this deep, low, almost foghorn-like noise that happens every ~10–15 minutes. It lasts maybe 10–20 seconds, changes pitch a little, then stops. Then it comes back again…and again…and again.

The weird part is:

   •   It’s WAY more noticeable at night (starts around 9pm)

   •   It sounds like it’s coming from outside and above me, not inside my apartment

   •   My buildings boiler was replaced recently but it is not louder next to the radiator/boiler

   •   It’s actually louder when I go outside, which is making me think it’s some kind of external mechanical thing

   •   It almost has a vibrating/rumbling quality to it, not just a clean hum

I live in an older building, no central AC, and there aren’t any obvious factories or anything nearby. This just randomly started recently and now it’s happening like clockwork every night.

I haven’t been able to sleep properly because as soon as I start drifting off, it happens again. It’s honestly making me feel a little unhinged at this point because I can’t escape it, even with earplugs and a sound machine because it’s such a low rumble.

Has anyone dealt with something like this before? I reported to my HOA but everyone in my condo is significantly older I’m not sure maybe they just can’t hear the pitch?