Flickering Lights in a House

Ever noticed your house flickering lights? Are your children spooked and won’t let you sleep because the lights keep flickering at night? In full disclosure, it can be incredibly dangerous as it may indicate outdated, loose, or worn-down wiring.

To get your flickering lights fixed, there may be multiple steps involved depending on the cause. With this guide, you’ll effortlessly be able to navigate and figure out how to solve this issue. So without further ado, let’s get into it!

Causes and Fixes of Flickering Lights in a House

1. Issues with the light bulbs

If there’s just one light flickering in the house, there’s most likely an issue with your bulb. The bulb itself may either not be screwed in properly or is faulty and needs replacement.

To fix this issue try swapping out the old bulb for a new one (buy the same), ensuring proper fitting this time. Now turn off the light switch and test it out to determine whether it was the old bulb or there’s another cause if it still flickers.

It is also important to note that some newer bulbs behave differently from their older counterparts.

2. Bulb not made for the fitting

Light bulbs come in a wide variety and are designed to go with different fittings. Mismatches are a common cause for flickering and even smart bulbs of the highest quality can have fitting issues. And sometimes, it’s best to leave it to an electrician.

But the good news is this issue can be sorted out as easily as you may think. Begin by checking your fixture and then replace your incompatible bulb with one that is made to fit in the kind of switch you have. This would stop lights in the house from flickering constantly.

3. Faulty Wiring

Any faulty wiring is more likely to cause flickering lights in the house than not. If the wiring is outdated or loose, this may lead to something called arcing- a condition when electrical current jumps through the gaps in the circuits. This poses a great fire hazard.

Faulty wiring in your house is unsafe and must be urgently dealt with before you dial the insurance agent.

Make sure you bring in a qualified electrician if you suspect the flickering lights to be wire-related.

Some other telltale signs and determinants for wiring issues are buzzing sounds, sparking, burning smell, and outlets like switches or sockets that feel hot to the touch.

4. Issues With Switches or Dimmers

Another possible reason for flickering lights may be your switches or dimmers. This manifests especially when these fixtures aren’t compatible with the bulb types.

LED or fluorescent bulbs are, at times, interchanged with non-compatible dimmers, which may lead to regular flickering in those rooms. You can detect it by observing an isolated flickering around particular switchboards.

Moreover, conventional dimmer switches usually are made to accommodate only halogen or incandescent light bulbs. You should ensure that your dimmer switches correspond to the type of light bulb you have installed.

5. Fluctuation in voltage

A fluctuating or reduced voltage directly impacts electricity which can cause blinks and flickering of lights around the house.

And if the voltage goes up and down significantly, your appliances can malfunction, and it begins with the flickering of lights.

What you can do is measure the voltage changes with a digital or analog voltmeter. This will show you any possible fluctuations or irregular voltages.

When you detect such changes, you should unplug high electricity-consuming appliances like fridges, fans, air conditioning, etc. If it fluctuates too much, then consider turning off the main power supply for the moment.

6. Loosely connected plugs and outlets

It is very common to have a tonne of electrical sockets throughout your home. This ultimately means that there could be a loose connection between socket outlets and plugs. This can lead to standalone lights flickering around the house which is not a serious issue.

Swapping a faulty socket or tightening the connection is the straightforward solution to this.

7. Your Circuit Board is overloaded

As you add up the new household appliances/ devices in your home, you are essentially overloading circuit boards which may become an issue. This is chiefly due to the amount of electricity needed to power each appliance.

With the wiring not enhanced for the increased amount of electricity needed for running more stuff, an overloaded circuit board can cause flickering of lights when you power more appliances at once.

If flickering lights are brief and occur inconsistently, it’s usually not a cause for concern until that changes- any flickers or blinks occurring for more than a few seconds every time means that your circuit board should be replaced.

8. Fault in the energy utility service

More often than not, flickering lights in the house may be linked to an issue with disturbances in your electrical utility provision. This may occur before an area-wide power outage or perhaps a storm.

You can turn to your neighbors first to know if they are experiencing similar fluctuations; in which case, you’ll know it's probably not a problem with your household electrical fixtures. The only thing you can do here is to wait it out for your electricity provider to get it fixed.

Need assistance? Talk to an Electrician!

As electrical handling is usually a dangerous and technical task, it’s best to have a professional electrician by your side when you’re trying to get something fixed. With Video Chat a Pro, you can now talk to an electrician to guide you step-by-step when handling flickering lights or electrical issues to stay safe, efficient, and stress-free.

All in all

With cheap wiring or fixtures around your house, flickering lights will become a common concern for you and can even be deadly dangerous if you ignore it for long enough. But following the guide above, you’ll be able to get to the bottom of what causes flickering lights in the house and effectively solve it!