Why Are My Lights Flickering?

Why are my lights flickering? The source of a light flickering can be as benign as a bad bulb or as serious as needing service on your main electrical panel. Before you call Godby for electrical service, read on to try and determine the source of your flickering lights. Let’s narrow the problem down to a few small areas. My lights that are flickering are from the same light or fixture and are contained to one area (not throughout the entire home). The first thing to do is check your bulb or bulbs. Make sure that they are screwed in all the way and not loose. The bulb needs to have a good connection. Try changing the bulb to make sure that you don’t just have a bad bulb. If an entire light fixture is flickering, one that has many bulbs, you may have bad or loose connection with the wiring of the fixture or a faulty switch. An electrician from Godby can help you with any of these problems. Loose connections can be dangerous, so call Godby to have an electrician identify and fix the problem as soon as possible. The wrong bulbs can also be the culprit of your flickering. If you bought LED or CFL bulbs to replace your old, standard bulbs, make sure that you are buying and installing the correct bulb for your fixtures. If you have light fixtures that are on dimmers, you need to make sure that your LED and CFL bulbs are dimmable bulbs. If they are not, when you try to dim your fixture, the bulbs will flicker. If the flickering is happening across multiple fixtures, but in one certain area in your home (for example just the lights in your dining room) then you could have an issue with a circuit. A Godby electrician can conduct a complete circuit diagnosis to find the cause of the issue. The issue could be in any number of places- a light, a switch, an outlet, j-box or in your main electrical panel.  Once they determine the issue, the electrician can get to work fixing the problem. My lights are only flickering when I turn on a large appliance or the air conditioner turns on. The reason that your lights are flickering is probably that of the amount of power that is being drawn to get that appliance working. For example, most homes main electrical panel is a 200 amp service. If you have a large AC unit, sometimes it can draw more than 100 amps to turn itself on. This large draw of power may draw some of the electric currents away from your lights in order to power the appliance on, causing the lights to flicker. It is normal for your lights to flicker for a second or two, but if you notice a longer duration of flickering after the AC turns on or if your lighting is going out completely then it would be a good idea to have things checked out. Call Godby to have an electrician check to make sure that everything is wired correctly, including wire size, fusing, and connections. Get this checked out as soon as possible. You do not want to risk an electrical fire due to faulty wiring or overheating due to increased current draw. They will let you know if anything needs to be corrected. My lights are flickering all over the house and it is not due to a large appliance. This situation is nothing to mess with. Call Godby and have an electrician come out right away. This is probably a sign that you have a problem with your main panel or in your meter base. Both of these situations are potential fire hazards. My lights are flickering, but so are my neighbors. If the problem of flickering lights is not isolated to your house, the problem is probably from an issue with the service provided by your electric company. This could be caused by any number of things- a storm, lightening, a branch or fallen tree or even an animal. You can call your electrical company and ask if there are problems in your area. If so, you simply have to wait it out. The problem is out of your control. Electricity is a blessing, but it can become annoying if it is not working properly. Always ere on the cautious side when it comes to electricity and get it fixed by a professional. If a light is flickering, don’t just turn off the switch. Sure you won’t see the annoying flickering of lights, but the problem still remains. Keep yourself and your family safe and get it checked out. Godby Heating Plumbing Electrical has a high-quality team of electricians, including Master Electricians. When you need help keeping your lights from flickering, call Godby. It is the name that has been servicing Indianapolis and surrounding areas for over 40 years. Still locally owned and operated, Godby makes sure to take care of its neighbors and community. Godby Heating Plumbing Electrical- three trades, one team, It’s Gotta be Godby!