Discovered a weird source of stress/anxiety: my fridge

[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.

[Le Chuck]

My sleep has been crap for a long time as well.  Even went and had a sleep study conducted (apnea runs in my immediate family), which I'm waiting on results for but not hopeful as the tech said I didn't really exhibit any major symptoms on the night. 

Wondering if it could be environmental like this?  I'll have to take a look at it, I do know that I often sleep better on vacations than I do at home.  Just did a week at Kidani Village in Disney and slept like a baby and was well rested. 

[ark_ader]

Keep the thermostat at setting 4, anything lower, and you get the damn thing running that noisy motor and keep you awake.  I had the same problem but I could hear it from upstairs.  Drove me nuts.

Same for the freezer.  You can always buy ice. 

[shponglefan]

It might be worth looking at the compressor to make sure its mounts aren't faulty.

Yeah, I took a look at how it's mounted.  It's got rubber pads underneath, but it's bolted on and vibration can still travel through the bolts to the metal framing.  I also notice the vibration is traveling through the radiator and that has no isolation on its mountings.  So I'm thinking if I redo how both the compressor and radiator are mounted, I might be able to better isolate the vibration.

[shponglefan]

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.

Moving the bed definitely has helped.  I still notice the fridge vibration a tiny bit, but not nearly to the effect I was previously.  What frustrates me is that I took years before finally figuring out the cause.  It wasn't immediately obvious by any stretch.

[shponglefan]

Keep the thermostat at setting 4, anything lower, and you get the damn thing running that noisy motor and keep you awake.  I had the same problem but I could hear it from upstairs.  Drove me nuts.

Same for the freezer.  You can always buy ice. 

This time of year, I figure I'll just toss the refrigerables into a backyard cooler. 

[shponglefan]

My sleep has been crap for a long time as well.  Even went and had a sleep study conducted (apnea runs in my immediate family), which I'm waiting on results for but not hopeful as the tech said I didn't really exhibit any major symptoms on the night. 

Wondering if it could be environmental like this?  I'll have to take a look at it, I do know that I often sleep better on vacations than I do at home.  Just did a week at Kidani Village in Disney and slept like a baby and was well rested.

It's definitely worth investigating.  I didn't make the connection to sound/vibration and anxiety for years; it's not something obvious particularly when one is asleep.

[pbj]

Sound dampener under the feet of your bed?

 

[Howard_Casto]

That could work, but probably not.  Everyone seemed to kind of ignore my post, but the culprit most likely isn't sound, it's infrasound.  Google it.  Long story short, it's all about dat bass (no treble) and as you know, lower frequencies are hard to stop... you can "feel" them even when you can't hear them.

[shponglefan]

Short update:

Moving my bed has definitely helped over the last couple weeks.  I've been sleeping better and waking up more relaxed than in a long time.

I still noticed a bit of humming when the fridge would come on; not enough to really be an issue, but still noticeable in the dead of night.  I invested in a quarter-inch rubber sheet from Home Depot.  It's billed for using underneath fitness equipment, and I tried it under the fridge.  It seems to have helped dampen that remaining hum and now I can't hear a thing when I my fridge is running.

Still can't believe it took me three friggin' years to figure all this out...

[shponglefan]

That could work, but probably not.  Everyone seemed to kind of ignore my post, but the culprit most likely isn't sound, it's infrasound.  Google it.  Long story short, it's all about dat bass (no treble) and as you know, lower frequencies are hard to stop... you can "feel" them even when you can't hear them.

Yeah, the problem is that once the sound makes its way into the room whether it's coming through the bed is a bit moot.  It's in the room at that point and generally noticeable.  Reducing it at the source has definitely helped.