Wind Chimes!!

[mrsalvo]

What is everyone's thoughts on wind chimes? I'm sort-of taking a poll, as feelings about them can be extreme. Love them, hate them, indifferent?

Have a set that I hung in a semi enclosed outside area in the front of the house, and they do chime. So far I haven't gotten any complaints from the neighbors. Want to be a good neighbor, have the best neighbors anyone could ask for, but don't want to crash their nerves either. LOL. LOL. There is no HOA in the neighborhood where I live.

Interesting research on them, some believe they keep evil spirits away while some believe they attract evil spirits. Don't know that I really believe in any of that, but who knows.

Your thoughts PLEASE.

Barry

 

[iheartmaytag]

I love them

I keep three sets on my front porch. Two sets tinkle in the wind. The third set has more of a tubular bells sound. I enjoy listening to them, and they also serve a purpose as being by the neighbors bedroom window, I feel I am getting even for their little dog that barks 28 hours a day.

 

[chachp]

Wind Chimes

 

<span style="font-family: 'courier new', courier;">I like them.  Have a set on the front porch that are the longer tubular ones that make the deeper sound.  I have a set in the back that was a gift from a friend of mine.  They are a beautiful set also with a deeper sound.  He gave them to me when my mom died.  He said there are those who believe when the chimes make noise its your loved one letting you know they are looking over you.  It was a beautiful sentiment.  And to this day when I hear them I think of her.</span>

 

[rp2813]

We used to have a set with large, long tubular type but they had a higher pitched clang and sounded churchy.  During the fall and winter when we'd have more wind, I separated the striker from the chimes and would sometimes take the extra step of tying the tubes together so it wouldn't keep us and the neighbors awake at night.

 

A friend of mine had chimes that reminded me of Charlie's Angels going into a commercial break.  He finally got rid of it because I had ruined the sound of them for him. 

 

These days, I have a ceramic bell from Arcosanti in Arizona.  It makes a dull, understated clunk that's soothing regardless of how windy it might be.

 

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[petek]

My partner has 2 sets on a plant hanger near the front door and who knows how many out back.. just the cheap dollaryh store kind with solar lights on them,, very tacky, you can tell I don't like them but I choose my battles.

 

[pulltostart]

I love them.  I have one set hanging at the back door under a wide eave.  I don't think they're loud enough to bother neighbors - no one has ever made a comment.  I like Harley's motivation, might need to consider mine doing the same as his do.

 

I had an aunt who had some glass wind chimes that hung in a corner window in her bedroom.  When both windows were open and there was a breeze they made the nicest sounds!  I think having chimes now take me back to those that she had.

 

lawrence

 

[tomturbomatic]

When wind chimes first became popular, 50+ years ago, someone gave my mother a set of the little brass ones and since the windows were closed due to air conditioning, she hung them from the breakfast room window sill in front of the air conditioning vent. They were not bad and we did not have to worry about bothering neighbors.

I feel very sorry for dogs that are left outside all night or even late at night. From them I learned the benefits of having a window unit to muffle noise at night in hot weather and a nice Vornado fan for the rest of the year. They say people never learn how noisy their neighbors are until they get central air conditioning. I am going to make a statement about two neighbors who were on the police force and who mistreated their dogs. I was not the only one who thought so because one of the dogs turned on his owner and was put down. He was so friendly when I would talk to him in his kennel in the back yard where he was kept 24/7 except when he was taken hunting, he would stop barking and wiggle in joy that attention was being paid to him. Death was a release for him.

There was a little dog who lived across from me who sort of ran the street. When we were outside down at John and Jeff's working on appliances, he would always come down and be with us. Jeff named him Combo which fit with his baptized name of Leo. He always answered to it. One time we had a big snow, really deep, and his family locked him out and went to bed. I heard him struggling to get in so I went out and called him. I asked if he would like to sleep in my house and he came in; he was never a stranger anyplace. Part of the night he slept in my bedroom. Before dawn he woke up and I got him a dish of water and put it down in the glass room where it was cooler. He slept there until about sunrise when he wanted to go out so I let him out. I guess he was able to cope with the cold when he was moving around. Imagine not checking to see if your dog was inside before going to bed.

 

[Ultramatic]

I like them

 

 

We've always had chimes, remember them as a kid. Currently I have a nice, metal set that I hang from the terrace ceiling once it gets warm. I take them down for the fall and also if it's excessively windy or stormy. The neighbors have never complained. But then again I put up with their stinking fish fries.

 

[frigilux]

Curmudgeon Trigger Alert:

They get on my nerves. My mom hung a set over our patio when I was in high school and after about two weeks, I threw them in the trash.

If you enjoy wind chimes, hang them in your house and aim a small fan at them. That way you can enjoy them and your neighbors remain undisturbed.

 

[gizmo]

how to be a good neighbour...

I would ask the neighbours. Don't just put the wind chimes up and assume that if there are no complaints, everything is OK. It can be very stressful when an otherwise good neighbour does something that is annoying, you don't know whether to put up with it to maintain the relationship, or speak up.

I can give an example when I was the one at fault. When we moved to this place over 10 years ago, we had a fairly basic solar power system and used a diesel generator for backup when there wasn't enough sun. Our hot water system is also solar and as originally designed, we could operate the diesel generator at the end of the day if the hot water hadn't reached temperature. Our property is 19 acres of forest and the nearest neighbour is hundreds of metres away across a gully full of trees and ferns.
I assumed that the generator noise wouldn't reach that far, so would often run it into the evening.
We were very good friends with our neighbours and got on really well. One day when the genny was running our neighbour arrived. He was very nice, even apologetic, but made it clear that the generator noise at their house was unbearable. Apparently the gully funnelled the noise toward their house. I had no idea.

We immediately stopped using the generator in evenings, moved the generator to a shed with insulated walls in a more tucked-away location, replaced the thumping diesel generator with a small petrol one with an extra muffler, fitted a gas hot water booster so we didn't need to run the generator for hot water, and later upgraded the solar power system, so we have much less generator use. I still feel a bit bad that our lovely neighbour was put in the uncomfortable position of having to complain to us. (We are no longer neighbours but are still good friends.)

I have had tinnitus (ringing in the ears) for over 20 years and quite like hearing something soothing when going to sleep, chimes might even be a positive for some. Silent surroundings make the tinnitus seem louder. But generally I don't like wind chimes, they can be a bit shrill for my taste. FWIW.

 

[vacerator]

I liked the ones

Hellen Hunt's aunt in Twister made.

 

[foraloysius]

I never liked them. Those vague noises from outside make me unable to concentrate. Fortunately no neighbours have them here, but I know people who had neighbours with wind chimes, it drove them crazy. And the neighbours didn't want to take them down. Don't know how it ended, I never heard they were accused of murder.... lol

 

[firedome]

Can't stand them...

they are obnoxious if at all hear-able outside the perpetrators property IMO. I'd much prefer to hear the wind or, in season, the songs of the birds! just one more human crime against nature!!

 

[circlew]

A little goes a long way

I find them rather annoying. My mom had a couple of them for awhile.

 

[philcobendixduo]

Woodstock Chimes

I have Woodstock "Chimes of Olympos" in my back yard and Woodstock "Hummingbird" chimes on my front porch. I made sure the bigger chimes (Chimes of Olympos) didn't bother my neighbors by asking them. They all said they like the sound. They don't bother me at night because my bedroom is on the other side of the house.

 

[tomturbomatic]

What do you call those brass Christmas candle zimblestern things where 4 white candles turn a fan that spins angels with little strikers that hit 4 bells? I admit to being culturally challenged for a name. It produced a pleasant sound that was not as random as wind chimes.

 

[mrsalvo]

Tom,
Swedish Angel Chimes? Also known as German Schwibbogen Angel Pyramid? That's the best I could come up with. Never thought those were all that safe.

Barry

 

[tolivac]

We had those angel chimes when I was a kid-was kinda cool-but dangerous-of course like any candle device-don't burn it unattended.-then it becomes a house ignitor.

 

[circlew]

We had one of the angel chimes, too. It was kept with the Christmas decorations, so only used in that season. I think my mom gave it to the church sale at some time.