Electrician Advice on Lights that Flicker

There are many causes of flickering lights inside a house. On the other hand, homeowners who experience flickering lights sometimes think of it as a normal activity around the house. In reality, however, it is dangerous and should not be ignored, says a Myrtle Beach electrician.

What causes lights to flicker inside a home?

Basically, flickering or dimming of indoor lights is an indication that there is a poor or faulty electrical connection somewhere throughout the house. To ensure the real cause of the flickering, homeowners should consider

• the time when the lights flicker
• how long the flickering occurs
• how often it happens
• the number of rooms where the lights often flickers.

Here are some of the basic scenarios involving flickering lights. It helps if every homeowner knows about this so they can compare their assessments with their electrician.

All lights in a single area of the house flicker at the same time. This is often caused by a bad light bulb or poor or loose connection in the area’s circuitry. Homeowners can try checking each light bulb for signs of wear and tear.

Replace these faulty bulbs with new ones. If the flickering still continues, it is highly recommended that homeowners contact their electrical contractor at once so they can conduct an overall inspection and diagnosis of the circuit in that area. This way, they will be able to find what is causing the poor connection in the circuit.

This could be a loose hot or neutral conductor in the circuit. The electrical contractors will specifically look at each receptacle, switch, j-box or electrical panel in the area where the flickering happens.

Lights flicker when a large appliance is plugged in or switched on. Example of large appliances are the air conditioner, washer and dryer. Most often, a large appliance requires more than 100 amps of electricity to start up. If the appliance is plugged into a circuit that already uses 100 amps, the lights in the circuit will flicker briefly as the large appliance, such as the air conditioner, starts up.

Note that an average house only has a maximum of 200 amps in their main electrical service. Thus, when an air conditioner is switched on while lights are also switched on, a brief flickering happens.

The best way to resolve this is to have your Myrtle Beach electrician create a separate circuit for your air conditioner and other large appliances so they will not have to share with your other appliances and lighting. Your contractor should also make sure all connections in the circuit are tight and secured and that the right size of wire and fuses were used.

Flickering happens throughout the house. If you did not switch on any large appliances and the lights throughout the house flicker, this means there are several loose conductors in your primary electrical panel.

Should this be the case, you need to call in your electrical contractor at once and have him conduct further inspection and assess your primary electrical panel and meter base. Note that loose conductors in the electrical panel or meter base can easily cause electrical fire. This is why it is extremely important that you call in a professional to help you resolve this situation.

Looking for a reliable electrician to work with and help you with your flickering problems? Call MB Electrician Pros now and inquire about their services.

Myrtle Beach Electrician Pros
Myrtle Beach, SC 29577
843-353-6345
electriciansmyrtlebeach.com