A flickering light bulb is a common problem of any household, caused by various reasons. A quick fix may be replacing your incandescent lamp with an LED type from the Hudson Lighting’s Vintage series.

Flickering light bulb

A loose bulb or a fluctuating voltage may cause your light to flicker. Those two are not the only reasons, so we listed below some everyday things to look for:

• Normal flickering – a fluorescent lamp will flicker during the first few minutes until the gas inside reaches the peak illumination. A failing ballast or a nearly used bulb can be the causes of a continuous flickering, so you may have to replace them.
• Faulty switch – a loose connection inside the light switch or even a missing silver contact can lead to a flickering light bulb. If this is the case, you may hear sometime a buzzing noise coming from the switch, and, by changing it, you solved the problem.
• Untightened bulbs – you can do a quick check-up and see if the bulb is loose in the socket. You should be aware that an untighten bulb is causing a small spark that overheats the outlet and, if not fixed, it is a safety hazard.
• Loose electrical wiring – electrical wires are going from the board to the switch and then to the socket holding your bulb. If any of those connections are weak, it may cause your lamp to flicker, so it is better to ask an electrician to come for an inspection.
• Voltage drops – the electrician will also check if there are any voltage drops in your network as these may also cause a flickering effect.

Are flickering lights dangerous?

Depending on what is causing the light to flicker, the phenomenon can be a safety hazard. A loose electrical wire, a faulty switch or an unproperly tighten bulb are creating a local overheating that in time can deteriorate the isolation leading to a short-circuit. That kind of faults will require your immediate attention.

On the other hand, you may have a decorative and fun flickering light, and it is evident that you do not have to address that since it is meant to work this way. Also, the regular flicker of a fluorescent bulb will not be a cause of concerns if it stops after a couple of minutes.

What would cause an LED light to flicker?

If you are using an old type system where the LED bulb is connected directly to the mains, you may have a flickering light bulb. An LED has no persistence, meaning when the AC sine wave goes through zero, the LED will switch off. And this on-off cycle will happen 60 times per second as per your network frequency.

However, the modern LED systems provided by Hudson Lighting has a driver between the mains and the bulb. This driver contains a step-down transformer and a converter from AC to DC so that a direct current will power your LED bulb, with no zeroing effect.