What could this noise be?? Updated with the answer!

[Amethyst]

Ok, there is a beeping noise coming from across the street. Can’t quite pin down where it’s coming from, but it seems like the house directly across the street, but it could be the house behind them. The noise is a beeping sound, it lasts about 2 seconds, and is repeated every 15 seconds. Relentlessly. Sort of sounds like either an alarm (but it’s not urgent enough), or the noise when your smoke detector is running low on battery (but too frequent). I noticed it first yesterday morning and it has been going on around the clock since then. 
 

DD who moved back home in May and whose room faces that side of the street, heard it back in May. I was out of town and she tried to have dh listen for it, but he is losing his hearing in high frequency range and could not hear it. Dd says it stopped after three days. 
 

We are keeping our windows open now since the heat is not as intense and the rain has stopped, so it can be somewhat annoying, especially when trying to sleep. 
 

Dh finally heard it yesterday when we were sitting outside. We may go over to the neighbors this evening to find out what is causing it. Curious if any of you have any ideas? 
 

 

Edited July 20, 2021 by Amethyst

[Arcadia]

Our ceiling smoke alarm does that when we don’t change the battery immediately. The beeps would become more frequent. Our carbon monoxide alarm which is plugged in doesn’t beep at such a high frequency. We don’t change batteries twice a year so it is possible for our smoke/carbon monoxide alarms to go off at different times of the year.

[Melissa B]

It sounds like an open door or open window alarm. If you are starting to leave your windows and doors open the neighbors are probably doing the same. It could be that it is an older person/couple that lives in the house and they cannot hear the alarm anymore themselves. 

If it is going off at night when you are trying to sleep you can call the police non-emergency number. In our county they will go out and investigate for you (assuming it is a slow night for them.)

[HomeAgain]

Depending on the alarm, it could be code for it's past due to change the whole alarm out.  Ours do series like that (First Alert) and need to be retired every 10 years.

[ktgrok]

Our battery back up that we plug our electronics into does that if it isn't working. Always at night to wake me up, then it takes me forever half asleep to figure out what the sound is and track it down. 

oh! Or we have walki talkis and if the battery runs down on them they do that too. Again, seems only to happen at night so that half asleep Katie tries to pinpoint the direction every 15 seconds. Fun times. 

[rutheart]

Some doorbells are now battery powered and will alarm when the battery is low. We were one of the few in our neighborhood to turn down the battery operated doorbells. They might have tried to use a rechargeable battery and that's why it happened again so soon?

In my neighborhood, the sewage grinders will also alarm occasionally.

[Amethyst]

2 minutes ago, rutheart said:

Some doorbells are now battery powered and will alarm when the battery is low. We were one of the few in our neighborhood to turn down the battery operated doorbells. They might have tried to use a rechargeable battery and that's why it happened again so soon?

In my neighborhood, the sewage grinders will also alarm occasionally.

Dh thought it might have something to do with their alarm system. These neighbors never seem to open their windows, but the husband does do yardwork fairly often so I would think he would have noticed.

My husband’s other thought that it might have been some kind of animal deterrent. That seems unlikely to me since I thought those things are supposed to be unhearable to humans, plus I just saw a deer family in their backyard today. 
 

Sewage grinders? 

[Amethyst]

10 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

Our ceiling smoke alarm does that when we don’t change the battery immediately. The beeps would become more frequent. Our carbon monoxide alarm which is plugged in doesn’t beep at such a high frequency. We don’t change batteries twice a year so it is possible for our smoke/carbon monoxide alarms to go off at different times of the year.

Definitely not a smoke alarm. At least not like one I’ve ever heard before. 

[Amethyst]

9 minutes ago, HomeAgain said:

Depending on the alarm, it could be code for it's past due to change the whole alarm out.  Ours do series like that (First Alert) and need to be retired every 10 years.

Interesting. That sounds like a possibility. 

[Amethyst]

11 minutes ago, ktgrok said:

Our battery back up that we plug our electronics into does that if it isn't working. Always at night to wake me up, then it takes me forever half asleep to figure out what the sound is and track it down. 

oh! Or we have walki talkis and if the battery runs down on them they do that too. Again, seems only to happen at night so that half asleep Katie tries to pinpoint the direction every 15 seconds. Fun times. 

This reminds me…we had a power outage the other night (and the next morning retrieving the newspaper is when I first became aware of the noise. I wonder if the power outage set something off. 
 

I find it curious that the same thing happened back in May. 

[rutheart]

A sewage grinder takes waste from the house and grinds it up before pumping it out to the sewage line at the street. It's like a hybrid between septic and sewer. It works great until the power goes out. I've thought about buying a generator just to ensure we can flush toilets during power outages.

[Amethyst]

2 minutes ago, rutheart said:

A sewage grinder takes waste from the house and grinds it up before pumping it out to the sewage line at the street. It's like a hybrid between septic and sewer. It works great until the power goes out. I've thought about buying a generator just to ensure we can flush toilets during power outages.

Oh ok. Lol. Sorry. I never lived with a septic tank. And never lived anywhere with a sewage grinder either. Ya learn something knew every day!

Edited July 19, 2021 by Amethyst

[ktgrok]

2 hours ago, Amethyst said:

This reminds me…we had a power outage the other night (and the next morning retrieving the newspaper is when I first became aware of the noise. I wonder if the power outage set something off. 
 

I find it curious that the same thing happened back in May. 

The power outage adds to my battery back up dying theory. 

[prairiewindmomma]

My dd's really old flip phone does then when a text has been received. I can hear it throughout the house if the volume is up. Our neighbors could hear it if both of our windows were open.

My fire alarm battery does this.  

My washing machine alarm will also do this, if I ignored the first alarm. It shuts the water off, I have to manually turn the alarm off and restart the water (with an easy push of the button).

I'd knock on the door, being willing to volunteer to climb a ladder to change a fire alarm battery for someone. My elderly relatives will all just let them beep until family can come by to change batteries as they have no business up on a ladder.

[Amethyst]

1 hour ago, prairiewindmomma said:

 

I'd knock on the door, being willing to volunteer to climb a ladder to change a fire alarm battery for someone. My elderly relatives will all just let them beep until family can come by to change batteries as they have no business up on a ladder.

These folks are not elderly. I mean, they’re old than I am (60), but they're not decrepit. She walks every day with a friend, he does yard work often. They were putting together patio furniture the other day. I’ll ask him about it next time I see him out. 

[Junie]

6 hours ago, Amethyst said:

 

My husband’s other thought that it might have been some kind of animal deterrent. That seems unlikely to me since I thought those things are supposed to be unhearable to humans, plus I just saw a deer family in their backyard today. 

I don't think this is the sound that the op is describing, but I can hear at least some animal deterrents.  My mom had one at her house to keep the squirrels away.  She told me I could turn it off for the weekend while I was visiting.  It was a high-pitched continuous sound.

ETA: My mom couldn't hear the sound, but she figured out what I was talking about when I complained about the noise.

Edited July 20, 2021 by Junie

[Ausmumof3]

I think I’d check in on them just to make sure they’re ok.  How about carbon monoxide or similar?

[TravelingChris]

I am so amazed that anyone can hear any sounds like smoke alarms or anythiing inside the other house and you can hear it inside your own housel.  The only beeping I can ever hear is if someone has something like a backhoe nearby and it is reversing- that is loud enough and can be close enough to be heard.  

[Shoeless]

Do they have an automatic gate opener for their property?  Our neighbors across the street have one, and it beeps when the battery goes out. 

[Amethyst]

8 hours ago, TravelingChris said:

I am so amazed that anyone can hear any sounds like smoke alarms or anythiing inside the other house and you can hear it inside your own housel.  The only beeping I can ever hear is if someone has something like a backhoe nearby and it is reversing- that is loud enough and can be close enough to be heard.  

I sort of think it might be coming from OUTSIDE their house. Like a battery going out on either their security lights or the pool alarm, or something else out doors. The sound (pitch? Timbre?) is very similar to a truck backing up, but not quite as loud and only lasts for 2 seconds, every 15 seconds. 

[Amethyst]

5 hours ago, MissLemon said:

Do they have an automatic gate opener for their property?  Our neighbors across the street have one, and it beeps when the battery goes out. 

No gate. Good thought though!

[Amethyst]

8 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

I think I’d check in on them just to make sure they’re ok.  How about carbon monoxide or similar?

It’s not the sound of an alarm - an alarm is more persistent and alarming. This is just somewhat annoying. I don’t think they're dead cuz this noise happened in May also. But I do wonder if they’re out of town. I’ve been watching to catch them outside and say “hey, what do you think that noise is”. But haven’t seen them lately. 

Edited July 20, 2021 by Amethyst

[RootAnn]

8 hours ago, TravelingChris said:

I am so amazed that anyone can hear any sounds like smoke alarms or anythiing inside the other house and you can hear it inside your own house.  

I can hear my neighbor's phone ring.

ETA: that's with our windows open. They can hear really loud noises from our basement in their basement & vice versa. Our basement is completely underground. Theirs is not.

Edited July 20, 2021 by RootAnn

[Amethyst]

51 minutes ago, Amethyst said:I don’t think they're dead cuz this noise happened in May also. But I do wonder if they’re out of town. I’ve been watching to catch them outside and say “hey, what do you think that noise is”. But haven’t seen them lately. 

They’re not dead. At least the wife isn’t. Lol. I saw her walking with her neighborhood friend. I was upstairs and couldn’t get to her fast enough (or subtly enough) to approach her to ask. Hopefully the friend said something! 

[Amethyst]

It’s a mole chaser!!! (And guess where those nasty rodents end up??!)

Just talked to the husband “hey do you know where that noise is coming from?” He did seem a little sheepish when he said it was a mole chaser and added “it is a little annoying, isn’t it?” to which I replied, “eh, it’s not too bad if the windows are closed.” 🤦‍♀️ 

[TravelingChris]

58 minutes ago, RootAnn said:

I can hear my neighbor's phone ring.

ETA: that's with our windows open. They can hear really loud noises from our basement in their basement & vice versa. Our basement is completely underground. Theirs is not.

I live on a 3/4 acre property and have only one neighbor who I could potentially hear things -like I heard some of the construction when the house was renovated- but certainly not close enough to hear alarms from inside the house.  

[ktgrok]

8 minutes ago, Amethyst said:

It’s a mole chaser!!! (And guess where those nasty rodents end up??!)

Just talked to the husband “hey do you know where that noise is coming from?” He did seem a little sheepish when he said it was a mole chaser and added “it is a little annoying, isn’t it?” to which I replied, “eh, it’s not too bad if the windows are closed.” 🤦‍♀️ 

OH! I had one of those, but it was buried enough I could only hear it if I was within a few feet of it. 

[Amethyst]

3 minutes ago, ktgrok said:

OH! I had one of those, but it was buried enough I could only hear it if I was within a few feet of it. 

It’s buried? Interesting. I don’t know that his is buried. But that makes sense to bury it. He mentioned that part of his backyard had gotten flooded with all the rain we got lately, so he assumed that’s why he saw one above ground recently.

[ktgrok]

1 hour ago, Amethyst said:

It’s buried? Interesting. I don’t know that his is buried. But that makes sense to bury it. He mentioned that part of his backyard had gotten flooded with all the rain we got lately, so he assumed that’s why he saw one above ground recently.

Yup, hammered into the ground. So you can see the top which should be right at ground level, flush with the ground. That way you don't hit it with the lawn mower, trip on it, etc. I had solar ones so the top was a little solar thing. 

[Katy]

I don’t think they work if they’re not buried. 

[cbollin]

just echoing the others.... if you can hear those mole chasers, they aren't buried in the ground properly and not working well.  shouldn't be able to hear it unless you're really close to it.  I have the brand that beeps every 28 seconds and barely know they are there.  check out website for places like home depot or lowes and that kind of store.  They show the instructions and pictures with it. wonder if neighbor would like to know that?