In short: one light flickering is usually the globe, the fitting or an LED on the wrong dimmer. Lights flickering in the whole house, or dimming when a big appliance kicks in, is a supply or switchboard problem and can be a loose neutral, which is dangerous. Fix the first kind yourself. Call an electrician for the second kind the same day.
Lights flickering is one of those problems that's either nothing or serious, with not much in between. Here's how to tell which one you've got.
Start with where it's happening
One light. Almost always the globe, the fitting, or the dimmer. Start there.
One room or one circuit. Usually a loose connection at a switch or a fitting, or an overloaded circuit.
The whole house. This is the one to take seriously. It points at the main supply, the switchboard, or a loose neutral connection. Skip to the last section.
The common causes, one light at a time
Loose globe. Turn it off, let it cool, and tighten it. Old bayonet fittings lose their spring over time and the globe sits loose.
LED on an old dimmer. The most common flicker call we get. Halogen-era dimmers (leading edge) don't play nicely with LEDs. The lights flicker, buzz, or won't dim low. The fix is a trailing edge dimmer that's rated for LEDs, and making sure the globes themselves are dimmable. If you've just had LED downlights installed and they flicker, this is where to look first.
Cheap LED globes. Some low-cost LEDs flicker on their own, particularly at low brightness. Swapping to a better-quality globe fixes it.
Old halogen transformer. Halogen downlights run through a transformer in the ceiling. When it's failing, the light flickers or cuts out. If the transformers are being replaced anyway, it's the right time to go to LED.
Loose connection in the fitting or switch. Cables work loose over decades of heat cycles. A fitting that flickers when you bump the wall or when the ceiling fan runs is usually this. That's a licensed electrician job, not a DIY one, because it's on the fixed wiring.
Flickering when an appliance starts
If the lights dip when the air conditioner, the oven or the pool pump kicks in, the circuit is briefly overloaded and the voltage drops for a moment.
A small dip on an old home is common. A big dip, or one that's getting worse, means the switchboard or the supply cable is struggling with the load the house now draws. Often the fix is a Switchboard Upgrade Perth homes built before the 1990s regularly need, because the original board was never sized for modern air conditioning and appliances.
Whole-house flickering: call the same day
When every light in the house flickers or dims together, and especially if some lights get brighter while others get dimmer, that's a sign of a loose or broken neutral. The neutral is the return path for the whole house. When it's faulty, voltage swings between circuits and appliances can be damaged or, in bad cases, start a fire.
Other whole-house causes:
- A loose connection at the main switch or meter.
- A fault on the Western Power service line to the house. If your neighbours are flickering too, it's the network, and Western Power is the call.
- A corroded connection at the point where the supply cable enters the house, common on older coastal homes in Scarborough, Trigg and City Beach where salt air gets at everything.
Don't wait on this one. Our Emergency Electrician Perth team responds the same day, and the first thing we check is the neutral and the main connections at the board.
Quick checklist
- One light: globe, fitting, dimmer.
- New LEDs flickering: dimmer compatibility.
- Flickers when an appliance starts: load and switchboard.
- Whole house, or lights getting brighter and dimmer: call now.
Nexus Electrical Co | Emergency Electrician Perth
Nexus Electrical Co is a licensed and insured electrician Perth homeowners have trusted for 6000+ jobs, based in Balcatta. Same-day response for emergency callouts, fixed price before we start, 100+ Google 5-star reviews. Call (08) 9245 1362.
