Humming noise from my neighbours central heating system

[RichJones]

Can anyone help me? My wife and I live in a semi detached house, and we can hear a humming noise on our landing, bedrooms and hallway (the side that joins to next door).

I have tried to investigate by completely shutting off our central heating & hot water system (turned off our combi boiler, turned off the power to it also and turned off all the electrics in my house at the main fuse box) and the humming noise is still there (exactly the same as before,).

I have had my neighbour turn off their system which results in the noise stopping completely.

Can anyone advise what is the likely problem with their system, as they are getting a British Gas engineer out to look at it. Other than the pump being worn out is there anything else that could be causing the noise.

 

[seco services]

pump may not be worn may just be resting against a joist or wall.

 

[kevindgas]

incorrectly installed pump and/or pipework
the normal problem with these types of trouble are

pump upright with no supporting clips allowing vibration / resonation when running

pipework installed in floor below pump having no expansion room or no lagging between pipes and joists.

 

[MANDATE]

Some central heating systems include a 3port mid position valve. The actuator on these valves include a small motor which is on constantly when central heating is on. Strange though it may seem but when the heating is satisfied or switched off, this motor is still energised and could be the source of a buzzing sound. It's only when Hot water only is selected and in demand, the power to this motor is cut and the valve drops back to its rest position. Worth a look?

 

[Agile]

You are lucky having a neighbour who is prepared to get someone to look at their system.

The reality is that you probably live in a quiet environment and are hearing a noise which would often be masked by TV, radio, talking on phones, computer fans etc. Its quite possible that the engineer will take the view that the noise from their system is qithing the normal range to be expected.

My expectation thats the case is largely supported by the fact that your neighbours live in their house where the noise will probably be higher but are not apparently bothered by it.

Of course as stated above there are "installation faults" which can cause more noise to be produced than normal. Hopefully for you that may be the case.

Tony