Every home experiences flickering lights from time to time. The rare occurrences often arise from a local power issue, such as a brownout. However, recurring issues with lights flickering may indicate something’s wrong with your house’s electrical system. Possible problems include loose light sockets, faulty switches, damaged wiring, or even an overloaded circuit.
What Causes a Light to Flicker?
The most annoying thing about a flickering light is that potential causes range from the mundane to the worrisome. On the upside, diagnosing simple problems tends to be easy.
Your first question should involve whether the bulb is bad. Put in a replacement bulb and see if that resolves the issue. When you put in the replacement, the socket should feel tight. If there’s any play in the socket and the flickering persists after a bulb replacement, then there could be a bigger problem.
Loose wiring can occur at the lighting fixture, the switch, or your home’s electrical panel. Also, there might be damaged wiring. One dangerous scenario is an arc fault. For example, someone may have put a nail in the wall while hanging a picture and hit a wire, producing a fire risk.
If you see multiple lights flickering, there’s a good chance something is wrong with the circuit. Voltage fluctuations can occur across the entire house, and you’ll see lights flicker in more than one room. Aging electrical panels wear out and corrode, as do their circuit breakers. This can cause lights to flicker.
When to Worry About Safety
A few warning signs indicate that more might be going on than a dying light bulb. Several fixtures could flicker or dim, especially when appliances turn on, such as high-draw systems like the refrigerator, a dryer, or an AC unit. You may feel warmth when you touch the switch plate or the light fixture, too. Buzzing is a particularly worrying sign, since it indicates that electricity may be arcing. All of these are potential safety hazards because heating and arcing can trigger fires.
Why Routine Maintenance Matters
Regular electrical inspections allow us to look for problems with electrical wiring and connections. An electrician can tighten fixtures and replace damaged ones. They also test the outlets to see if there are faults in the wiring. Similarly, an electrician will assess the condition of the electrical panel, the breakers, and the circuits.
Periodic inspections catch problems before they have a chance to become dangerous. Detecting an arc fault in time, for example, could prevent a house fire.
Keep an Eye Out for Flickering Lights
Issues can appear even after a recent electrical inspection. If replacing the bulb doesn’t fix the problem, contact an electrician and find out what they think. When you need lighting services in Morehead City, NC, contact Coastal Home Services.
