The lights in your home should provide a steady stream of light. They should not dim randomly. However, this abnormality is more common than you think and often points to serious issues. To help you determine why the lights in your house are dimming, we have created an extensive outline of issues and ways to respond.
Top Reasons Your Lights Are Dimming Randomly
As odd as it sounds, your lights dimming in your house does not just happen randomly. There is a root cause behind the issue. Usually, this cause comes from one of a few common places. Once you figure out the cause, you can determine the next steps to fix your dimming lights.
Old Lights
Like most electronics, lights start to wear out after a while. This shows up in a few different ways. They may be less bright than they used to be, fail at certain times, or dim randomly.
Luckily, the solution here is obvious. All you have to do is replace the old lights with new ones. You can do this on your own or as part of a larger lighting installation project.
The great part about this solution is that new lights last quite a while. So, replacing them once means not having to worry about the issue for a long time.
Malfunctioning Ballasts
Ballasts are an integral part of lighting. They essentially tell the electrical source how much electricity needs to be supplied to the lights. However, for various reasons, the ballasts can start to malfunction. This can lead to less electricity being supplied than normal, causing the lights to dim.
Unfortunately, this is an extremely technical issue. Fixing it requires understanding how ballasts work and can be dangerous if done incorrectly. Do not attempt to fix or replace damaged ballasts without the support of a licensed technician.
Circuit Breaker Overloads
People use more electronics now than ever. This means more things are plugged into all of the outlets in your home. Unfortunately, this can overload your home’s breaker. So, when you flip on something, it causes everything else connected to the breaker, including lights, to experience a drop in power.
This isn’t too much of a problem in the short term. However, if you plan to keep adding devices to this breaker, like through an electric car charger installation project, it can be a problem. The easiest way to address randomly dimming lights in your house is to work with a certified electrician to find a solution to prevent your circuit breakers from overloading.
Read More: 5 Types of Lights to Install Under the Cabinets in Your Kitchen
Incorrect or Outdated Wiring
Some lights are wired to wiring systems that are not correct. This can cause dimming problems. In other cases, the wiring behind lights gets corroded or damaged, which can happen for various reasons, including:
- Excess moisture or humidity
- Leaking lamp connections
- Broken housings
- Poor quality insulation
This damage to the wires can also lead to the lights in your house dimming or flickering randomly. If this is the case, you should have it looked at as soon as possible. Faulty wiring can be extremely dangerous. If left unattended, it can lead to fires. So, make sure you have the issue looked at right away.
Local Power Issues
In some situations, the lights are not dimming because of any specific issue within the home. Instead, they are responding to something happening within the local power grid. There may be a sudden upswing in electrical usage that has placed unexpected pressure on the grid, temporarily leaving it unable to keep up with demand.
There may also be something wrong with the grid, which can cause a number of different issues. Unfortunately, there is not much you can do to solve these types of problems. You will just have to wait for the issues to be handled by your power company.
An Open Neutral
An open neutral is a problem with the load balance changes that occur within the electrical system of your home. You can tell this is happening when you turn on an electrical appliance and suddenly see your lights dim in the house.
Unfortunately, an open neutral is dangerous. You should contact an electrician to verify that you are dealing with an open neutral and then work toward fixing the issue. Doing so will prevent it from causing serious problems.
Loose Light Bulb or Fixture Connection
While many of the issues that lead to lights dimming randomly come from the house, they can also come from the light fixtures. If the light bulb within the fixture is loose, it can disrupt the flow of electricity running to the light bulb. When this happens, the light will start to dim or flicker on and off.
This is by far the easiest issue to fix. All you have to do is tighten the light bulb back up again. If it works normally from that point on, you have correctly diagnosed and fixed the problem. Similarly, other connections leading to the fixture can have minor issues that cause dimming or flickering.
This could be from a problem with the light switch or any of the connections in between. These will be a bit more difficult to fix and will usually require professional help.
Read More: Why Is There No Electricity in One Room of My House?
Electrical Safety Recommendations
With any electrical issue, safety is a top concern. One wrong move in repairing an electrical issue can lead to serious injury or start a dangerous fire. This is why it is essential to completely shut off the breaker when working with electricity. However, some elements of the system remain dangerous for a while, even after the breaker has been turned off.
If you aren’t 100% confident you know what you are doing, you should leave electrical matters to the professionals. Doing so keeps you safe and ensures that the job is completed in an effective and safe way.
Lighting Installation and Repair Services
In many cases, the problems that are causing lights to dim in the house need to be handled by professionals. Fortunately, our team of local electricians in Roswell, GA offer reputable lighting installation and repair services for homes.
We also offer a variety of other electrical services including whole-house generator installation, electrical panel replacement, ceiling fan installation, and wiring maintenance. We are there if you have an issue that needs to be repaired, are looking to install various electrical equipment, need to upgrade your electrical system, and more.
We bring our decades of experience and in-depth knowledge of the industry to every one of these jobs. Give our expert electricians a call at (770) 852-8504 to receive support with malfunctioning lights in your house.