The Electrical Wiring forum and/or the Home Repair forum may have posters who might know the answer. For starters, do a search on the Electrical Wiring forum with the word hum.

i can't read all of your post because some of it is blocked by the garden web ads on the right...(i don't know why this hapens sometimes, but i can't collapse the ads when it does...)
but, i think your asking if the hum is an electrical or hanging problem--- i don't think so. i think maybe it's the type of motor some companys use?? some ceiling fans are just quieter than others--- i use casblanca fans in my bedroom because each one i've had has been very quiet and i need it quiet to fall aleep!

turn on a radio.. some really horrible music.. until you think your head will explode ... and then turn it off.. and enjoy the white noise of the fans??? ... lol ..

could be the dimmer switch ... but i am no electrician ...

ALL fans hum ... it just depends how quiet the house is ...

i think you nailed it on the head .. when you indicated that you moved rooms ... its not that it all mysteriously started .. perhaps its just that you hear it .... like my grandfather clock ... it chimes every 15 mins ... but i rarely hear it..

do check with the forums listed above.. but before you go spending hundreds on an electrician who will need scaffolding to get up there ..... perhaps if you give it a week or so.. it will disappear into the white noise of the hosue ...like it did before...

of course.. words fail on some level .. and i am thinking some very subtle humm... if we are talking vacuum cleaner hum ... time to spend money for safety sake ...

ken

Sounds like more of a motor issue than electrical wiring.

These home builders buy fixtures in huge quantities from manufacturers, and I hate to say it, but to save money (i.e.: increase profit), what they usually do is hand off cheap stuff . These are items which, if you're building a home, are probably best left to the homeowner to purchase.

Here is a link about ceiling fans humming. Hopefully, it will help you with the one you already have.

Here is a link that might be useful: ceiling fan hum

Does the tone of the hum go up and down with the speed of the fan? Then it would seem that the problem is with in the fan itself. Just a thought. I hear the whooshing sound made by my fan in my bedroom but it does not bother me.

This post was edited by dedtired on Sun, May 25, 14 at 11:46

Don't know if this applies, but it could be the dimmer switch requirements for the particular fan(s) weren't met?

The Casablanca Fan in our bedroom has its own remote control, so no need for a dimmer switch (we did hook it up to a switch last year when we reno'd the bedroom so we could turn on/off power to the fan to reset the remote after power failures more easily--rather than turning off the circuit in the garage).

The Matthews Fan in our kitchen required no lower than a certain amperage on the dimmer switch. We had to "de-rate" the dimmer/switch because it is "ganged" with three other light switches, and this really narrowed our choice of dimmers.

sounds to me like the fan motor. I have hunter fans, and they are really quiet.

Chasing the hum can be annoying, but ... check for loose stuff.

1 - Check the fan blades for loose screws
2 - Re-do the wire connections leading to the motor
3 - Make sure the lights are screwed in snugly
4 - Make sure the shades are attached snugly
5 - tighten any screws you find holding the housing together

If it only shows when the lights are dimmed, it's the filaments in the bulbs. Try a different bulb style

If all else fails, replace the fan. AC motors can develop a hum that starts in the windings and can't be removed.

Thank you all very much for the helpful info. I will check with the electrical forum as well. It's equally quiet in the house so it's definitely a difference in the fans. Some really great information here that I will follow up on. Also thanks for the recommendation of fans that are nearly silent. I'm such a light sleeper that the smallest annoyance seems to keep me awake, I even wear earplugs! Thanks so much again. As always, GW readers offer great advice and help.

@Cat_KY Thank you for that E-How article link. That was very interesting especially linking to other information on the site. I watched a couple of the videos and the one "How to stop that annoying hum in ceiling fans" was very interesting. Thanks so much!

This post was edited by gr8day on Tue, May 27, 14 at 10:54