Fix Flickering Lights in Your House
Have you ever noticed flickering lights in your house? 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 In full disclosure, it can be incredibly dangerous as it may indicate outdated, loose, or worn-down wiring.To get your flickering lights fixed, there may be multiple steps involved depending on the cause.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!
Electricians Fix Flickering Lights by Checking Bulbs First
Check the Light Bulb First, it May be Reaching its Life Expectancy
If there is just one light flickering in your house, there’s most likely an issue with your light bulb. The bulb itself may have either unscrewed itself or not been screwed in properly or is a faulty light bulb and need to be replaced. To fix this issue try swapping out the old bulb for a new one, ensuring it is properly tightened. Now turn on the light switch and test the new light bulb to determine whether it was the old bulb or there’s another cause, watch to see if the light still flickers.
It is also important to note that some newer bulbs behave differently from their older counterparts when operated by dimmer switches.
Electricians Check for Faulty Wiring When Lights Flicker
Electricians say that faulty wiring can cause flickering lights in your house. If the wiring is outdated or loose, this may lead to something called arching, a condition when electrical current jumps to the ground. This poses a great fire hazard. Faulty electrical wiring in your house is unsafe and should be urgently dealt with before you experience a fire. Make sure you consult a qualified electrician if you suspect the flickering lights to be wire-related.
Some other telltale signs and determinants of electrical wiring shorts are buzzing sounds, sparking, burning smell, and outlets like switches or sockets that feel hot to the touch.
Electricians Check Switches and 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 or there is a loose connection in the box.
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 light flickering around a particular dimmer switch.
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.
Electricians Check for Fluctuation in Voltage from Breakers
Fluctuating or reduced voltage from the electrical breaker directly impacts the circuit which can cause blinks and flickering of lights in rooms of your house.
The voltage can go up and down significantly if the breaker is malfunctioning and the indication would flickering of lights.
The electrician would guide you to use a voltage meter to measure the voltage changes as the light is flickering. This will show you any possible fluctuations or irregular voltages.
Loose Connections at Plugs or Switches
It is very common to have many electrical plug outlets and switches throughout your home. There is a chance there could be a loose connection between plug outlets. This can lead to lamps flickering around the house.
Electricians Check Breaker Panels
As you upgrade to new household appliances and plug in new electrical devices, you may be overloading the circuit breaker panel. This is mostly due to the amount of electricity needed to power all the new appliances.
When the electrical wiring is not sized properly for the new increased amount of AMPs needed, it becomes overloaded and the circuit 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.
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 wires. This may occur before an area-wide power outage or perhaps during 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 because it’s best to have a professional electrician by your side when you’re trying to get something fixed. With Video Chat A Pro an electrician is here to guide you step-by-step when handling flickering lights or electrical issues. Consulting an electrician to learn can help you stay safe, efficient, and stress-free.
By following the electrician's tips and pointers from this helpful content you’ll be able to get to the bottom of what is causing your lights to flicker in your house! And remember there are licensed electricians to guide you on Video Chat A Pro and you never have to go at it alone!