Chirping mystery

09 April 2022, 10:08 AM

Steve Miller

Chirping mystery

Something was chirping in my house last night from 3:30 AM until 5AM. It was a faint electronic chirp, not loud and harsh like the smoke detectors. Every time I moved to one area of the house it seemed to be coming from somewhere else. The chirps were exactly 40 seconds apart. The chirping stopped on its own.

I checked the smoke detectors, front door lock, coffeemaker, digital thermometer, washer/dryer and everything else I could think of. Nothing was chirping.

Just in case it happens again, what do you think it is?

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Life is short. Play with your dog.

09 April 2022, 10:49 AM

Mary Anna

Oddly enough, that happened to me day before yesterday. (Well, I didn't time the chirps, but 50 seconds seems about right.)

It was the security system that we have never used. Hitting "bypass" didn't fix it, but hitting "reset" did.

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Mary Anna Evans
http://www.maryannaevans.com
MaryAnna@ermosworld.com

09 April 2022, 11:53 AM

wtg

Refrigerator? Ours chirps if one of the doors is even slightly open, which happens sometimes with a French door frig.

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When the world wearies and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden - Minnie Aumônier

09 April 2022, 02:01 PM

CHAS

I get chirps that are about 1 to 2 seconds apart.
They are telling me to drink a few glasses of water immediately or risk vertigo.

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Several people have eaten my cooking and survived.

09 April 2022, 02:31 PM

Doug

quote:
Originally posted by wtg:
Refrigerator? Ours chirps if one of the doors is even slightly open, which happens sometimes with a French door frig.

Yes, my most mysterious chirps after I first moved here were either my refrigerator or freezer being slightly ajar.

09 April 2022, 02:33 PM

piqué

Usually it's Mr. Pique's hearing aids announcing that they need recharging. Of course he can't hear it. It drives me nuts.

12 April 2022, 09:57 AM

Steve Miller

It’s baaack….

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Life is short. Play with your dog.

12 April 2022, 12:08 PM

wtg

Same time of day?

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When the world wearies and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden - Minnie Aumônier

12 April 2022, 01:31 PM

Lisa

Do you have a UPS powering anything? Any well pump or septic pump? A water detector alarm under the water heater with a dying battery? How about a fitbit or smartwatch that might be trying to let you know it needs charging? All of the above been known to mysteriously chirp in the Lisa househould.

12 April 2022, 02:46 PM

RealPlayer

Crickets do that. The number of seconds between chirps can be calculated, by some formula, to give you the temperature.

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“It's hard to win an argument with a smart person. It's damn near impossible to win an argument with a stupid person." -- Bill Murray

12 April 2022, 03:20 PM

Steve Miller

quote:
Originally posted by wtg:
Same time of day?

8 AM - 10AM this time.

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Life is short. Play with your dog.

12 April 2022, 04:21 PM

wtg

quote:
Originally posted by RealPlayer:
Crickets do that. The number of seconds between chirps can be calculated, by some formula, to give you the temperature.

The formula:

https://www.weather.gov/epz/wxcalc_cricketconvert

We usually get a couple of crickets in the basement in late summer. I've never checked the chirp count against the actual temp. I'll do that in 2022!

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When the world wearies and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden - Minnie Aumônier

12 April 2022, 05:20 PM

Steve Miller

I took down the two smoke detectors at the front of the house, wrapped them a blanket and stored them in the BBQ outside.

Each of them behaved differently when I disconnected it and removed the batteries. On chirped once and stopped, the other continued to chirp for a few minutes after. They’re identical and I would expect the do the same thing so I’m
Pretty sure one of them is bad.

If it is the source if the chirp I’ll replace both of them as I’ve already had to replace the one in the hall.

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Life is short. Play with your dog.

12 April 2022, 05:21 PM

jodi

So it actually *might* be crickets?

13 April 2022, 09:17 AM

Steve Miller

Found it. It was a smoke detector in the unfinished part of the basement. I’ve never noticed it before.

The reason the sound was hard to track is that it’s located next to the furnace and the ductwork conducted the sound all over the house .

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Life is short. Play with your dog.