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| Discovered a weird source of stress/anxiety: my fridge |
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| shponglefan:
And no, this isn't some metaphor for an eating disorder. I mean my actual physical refrigerator. Long story short, for the last few years I have been dealing with increased anxiety mainly at night. Often I'd go to bed relaxed only to wake up incredibly tense in the morning. And sometimes I'd wake in the middle of the night full of anxiety. I figured it was all life-related stuff; end of a long-term relationship, taking on a more stressful job, that sort of thing. In recent weeks however, I managed to narrow it down to a physical cause. It appears the cause is actually low-frequency sound/vibration coming from my fridge. My current sleeping setup has my head next to a wall which runs down the center of my house towards the kitchen; a wall which the fridge is also next to. There's also a steel I-beam running underneath the same wall. The result appears to be a perfect conduit for sound and vibration from my fridge every time the compressor comes on. What was especially odd is some nights I'd wake up feeling tense, but all of sudden the tension would dissipate. It was during these times I realized it appeared to related to some low-frequency rumble, but couldn't put my finger on where it was coming from. Eventually sourced it to the fridge's compressor. I tested this by going a couple nights first unplugging the fridge at night. Then I simply moved my bed away from that wall. In the past week of trying these things, I've slept better and woken up more relaxed than I have in a long time. It bugs me that it took this long to figure out what the issue was, but I'm glad it's an external physical cause and not something else. Now my only question is how to try to dampen the vibration from the fridge. I don't want to replace it as other than this issue, it works fine. Any suggestions to reduce the vibration/sound it puts out would be welcome. |
| BadMouth:
Moving the bed is simpler than trying to get rid of the vibration. Sound/vibration control is more about isolation than anything else. Make sure the fridge isn't touching the wall. Rubber cups might help with the floor, but I doubt it will make a big difference. They make damping pads that float on oil for industrial applications, but I have no idea how much they cost. There are also sound isolation systems for hanging another layer of drywall without the vibrations from the original layer underneath being transmitted to the outer layer. I don't think any of this stuff is cheap though. It might be worth looking at the compressor to make sure its mounts aren't faulty. |
| pbj:
Stick some dynamat on it? |
| Howard_Casto:
Infrasound is a ---smurfette---. I'm particularly sensitive to it as well. There isn't much you can do I'm afraid. For most people it isn't the tone or pitch of the sound, but rather its existence. You are hearing something you aren't supposed to be able to hear, so your mind is straining to make sense of it. Move the fridge or move the bed.... those are probably your only options. Fun fact: Psychic hot spots, ghosts and all manner of supernatural hog-wash have pretty much all been debunked as people reacting (badly) to infrasound. Not bigfoot though, that sucker is real.... saw him once. |
| jdbailey1206:
This is not weird at all. Quick back story: I got into a car accident when I was 18 and bumped my head. The accident left a tiny bruise on my brain which in turn can lead to seizures. This is easily controlled by medication. I work as a paper pusher for a demolition company and I have found that certain machinery can trigger a feeling as you have described. It isn't so much excavators, air hammers, or torches that do it but any time an air compressor kicks on for an extended period of time I find myself wanting to immediately shut it down due to the sound. As you said it gets me anxious for no reason. As soon as I remove myself from the area I feel fine again. I agree with BadMouth also. Try small things first to alleviate the situation and go from there. |
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