Why lights flicker

There are many reasons why the voltage in your house might be too high. Most of the time, the issue is technical in nature and points to serious faults in your electrical system. Other signs associated with this issue include unpredictable dimming and frequent bulb burnouts. Excess voltage can be a safety hazard in your home and lead to an electrical emergency. Not only can loose and outdated wiring cause your lights to flicker, but it can also be incredibly dangerous.

If you have a loose connection in a light, outlet, or switch box, it can lead to a phenomenon called arcing. Each arc can exceed 10, degrees Fahrenheit, and will often spark an electrical fire.

The issue can originate in a number of places, including:. Contact an electrician as soon as possible if you believe this could be the reason your lights are flickering. If only one light is flickering and you suspect that loose wiring is to blame, make sure to turn the light off at the circuit breaker before inspecting it.

You could now replace one or two LED lamps with the old ones. Then the minimum load would be reached, but this mixed operation is not a nice solution. Technically speaking, LED lights are more complex than old light sources.

This is particularly important when you want to dim the brightness. To do this, the LED lamp and dimmer must play together properly. Many LED lamps cannot be dimmed. You have to ensure that the LED light is marked as dimmable at the time of purchase. The dimmer specifications must also fit. Older dimmers often require a high minimum load to function correctly.

This is mostly not reached by economical LED lamps. If the LED lights on the dimmer flickers, first check if the lamp is dimmable. This must be stated on the packaging or in the product description. If a dimmable LED light source still flickers, the old dimmer is inappropriate and must be replaced with an LED dimmer. If the flickering of the LED lamp occurs only sometimes, troubleshooting is the most difficult. The following causes can be responsible for the occasional flickering:.

The first two points have already been described in the previous sections. A small power supply is built into all V LED lamps. One of the most common sources of flickering for LED bulbs is the use of dimmer switches. The majority of dimmers are made to handle higher electrical loads. This means that the low-voltage LEDs may dim or flicker if they are connected to higher-power dimmer switches.

You also need to check the compatibility of your bulb with your dimmer prior to making a purchase. Or, you can opt to replace your dimmer switch with one designed to work with LED bulbs. Did you know that fluorescent lights are more likely to flicker than LED and other types of bulbs?

Warm-up cycles, the age of the bulb and the temperature are all common causes of flickering in fluorescent lights. While minor flickering is no reason to be worried, if you notice constant dimming or flickering, then you should replace the fluorescent bulb to fix the issue. If this doesn't work, then it's best to call a professional electrician for help.

In some situations, appliances in your home can have bearing failures. This results in the motor having to work harder when it starts up. When this happens, the appliance will draw more current and result in a noticeable light flicker. Also, lights may flicker if a load is activated suddenly or unexpectedly. One example of this is your sump pump. It may result in a noticeable flicker or dimming even if it has been circuited properly.

Another issue could be your neighbor's lights. It's extremely likely that you share a transformer with several of your neighbors. Because you are sharing the same circuit, the loads are going to impact your own electrical supply. With benign flickering issues, there's no real cause for concern. Unplug your lamp, adjust the metal prongs, and then plug it back in. If that does the trick, it may be that the two just needed a more secure fit.

Pay attention to the patterns: If you notice your lights flicker consistently when large appliances such as your air conditioner are running, the problem could be that your overall voltage is fluctuating too often, or that you have too much sensory overload on the same circuit.

Although slight fluctuations are normal, your home should register between and volts. Loose or outdated wiring is one of the leading causes of house fires. If you try the above troubleshooting techniques and your lights still flicker, this could be a sign of loose service conductors in your main electrical panel, an outdated breaker box with worn connectors, or a switch failure.

An electrician and a little patience to see if the problem resolves itself!