“Why am I hearing intermittent buzzing sounds behind my wall? Is something wrong with my electrical system?” -Joe B., Rockville, MD

We’ve recently received this question from a local Maryland homeowner who is now a customer of ours after reaching out about a concerning noise coming from behind the walls of his home. He mentioned that it was a buzzing sound that, quite frankly, was driving him nuts. If you’ve experienced the same thing, we’ll tell you that this isn’t a normal occurrence. That vibrating sound could be a sign of problems with your electrical switches, wiring, or outlets and it requires immediate attention! 

The first step to fixing this issue is identifying the source of the sound. Is it in a particular area of the room? Is it in multiple rooms? Information like this can help when you have your electrician come to your home to assess the noise. In some cases, homeowners might not even realize that this sound is coming from their electrical system. If the noise is emitting from an area near an electrical outlet, this is a sure sign that something sinister is going on behind those walls. You really shouldn’t be able to hear your electricity in this way. A wall outlet will not make any noise unless there’s a problem with the circuit. 

Some possible causes of that humming noise coming from the walls of your home could be:

• Incorrect electrical wiring
• Poor connections inside an electrical outlet
• Switch connections gone bad
• Screws that fasten wires to the outlet might be loose
• If the gas meter is on the outside of a buzzing wall, the meter may need to be repaired or replaced
• Fluorescent bulbs can make a humming sound. If there are any in the room, turn them off to see if the buzzing stops

If the buzzing gets louder when you plug in more appliances, it’s definitely a problem that you should address quickly. When it comes to your electrical system, you want to play it as safe as possible. At F.H. Furr, we perform Electrical Safety and Reliability inspections for our customers, and we also provide Electrical Hazards Detection services that will look inside your walls for potential danger. Once your system has been cleared of issues, you can even monitor it with a Ting Electrical Monitoring device! Give us a call when you want to be sure your electrical system is running safely and smoothly!