Noisy HVAC condensers can be a problem while you’re trying to sleep at night

My condenser is fairly loud, but the worst one on the whole block seems to be my next door neighbor’s.

I started becoming a light sleeper as I got older. When I was a teenager, I could sustain minutes of someone calling my name from two feet away from my bed without waking up. I slept so hard those years that I had to use a louder than average alarm clock in the mornings. At one point in the first two years of college I was using two separate alarms to make sure I’d get to class on time to take an exam or turn in a paper. Gradually the scales started to tip in the other direction, so much so that I remember a period of five months where I had insomnia every night just from hearing cars drive down a highway that is at least two miles from my house. The sound kept getting louder each night, despite technically staying the same. Since I already take antihistamines for allergies, I switched from my non-drowsy Claritan in favor of the sleep-inducing effects of Benadryl. The change in my medication helped, but I still have issues from time to time. One of the things I have struggled with the most while sleeping are HVAC condensers. They have to be outside because the hot coolant compressor inside can cool with fan driven air. My condenser is fairly loud, but the worst one on the whole block seems to be my next door neighbor’s. I have gotten woken out of a dead sleep at 3am from just the sound of his condenser turning on. Mine is about 15 feet from my window and I rarely notice it regardless of the time of day. It’s frustrating when you have to deal with a source of sound that is not only out of your hands, but also the result of a survival necessity for your neighbor’s home.

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