Learning from Worldwide Lighting Strategies

One of the most common electrical problems is flickering lights and burnt out bulbs. As such, most homeowners tend to brush this off as faulty bulbs and simply replace the offending lights. This may be a short-term solution, but if you find your lights keep flickering, then you could have a serious underlying problem with your home's electrical system. This is why it is advisable to familiarise yourself with the other reasons why your lights could be flickering to know the importance of calling in an electrician. Having the problem attended to at its root would be better off than simply replacing bulbs at whim. Here are some of the reasons why the lights in your home may be flickering.

Insufficient voltage at your light fixtures

All the electrical wiring in your home has some level of resistance. This means that when an electric current passes through the wiring, it is normal for some voltage to be lost because it is being use to force the flow of the electrical current against the wiring's innate resistance. Once this voltage reaches its intended destination, it will be less powerful than it was at its source. This in turn means less energy to power its intended appliance, in this case being your lights.

As the voltage in your home's electrical system becomes weaker over time, you will notice an upsurge in the flickering of your lights. It would be prudent to call on an electrician to establish whether your home needs an upgrade of its electrical system to meet your home's energy needs.

Unexpected activation of high electrical loads

Another reason why your lights may been flickering is if there is a sudden activation of a high-energy load, which takes some of the voltage away from your lights. For instance, switching on a sump pump can make your lights either dim or flicker because the sump pump is taking up a lot of electrical energy. This is more pronounced if your home's circuitry was not properly installed. You may even notice this flickering if you share a circuit with your neighbours as their use of high electrical loads will end up affecting your home's electrical voltage.

Left unchecked, this could also lead to your circuit breaker tripping as the increased need for electrical energy by these bigger appliances may signal the circuit breaker that there is a power surge. It is best to hire an electrician who can determine how best your larger appliances can get sufficient electrical supply without affecting the other electrical components in your home.