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I am visiting my Mom and noticed the lights were flickering (breifly cutting off). I asked her about it and she said it had been doing it for quite a while.
I recently went through this. Started suddenly after a storm, had the power company claim that "everything was fine" on their end but sent someone to test the drop to my house (which tested fine). Recommended I have an electrician out to inspect my breaker box, so I did and That was fine. A few weeks later I see them replacing the transformer that feeds my house and suddenly the issue was resolved. Guess everything wasn't "fine" on their end after all....
Anyway, mine was the whole house. Lights would dim randomly, didn't matter if it was incandescent, cfl or led. Happened at all times of the day, during nice weather and foul, I couldn't identify any trigger that would cause it to happen, be more frequent or get better/worse in any other way.
We also had this happening. Talked to the neighbor and they had it to. The electric company looked at their network a few time and didn't find anything. The third crew they sent out changed something in the network (could have been the transformer) and all was well. They couldn't blame it on our houses because it was both of them.
Have your mom check with her neighbors and then call the electrical company.
Not sure about the cause of the flickering issue*, but in my opinion if "flickering" means the electricity is quickly shutting fully on & off (rather than just dimming slightly) and doing that over an extended period, that might eventually damage certain sensitive electronic devices i.e. TVs, computers, cellphones hooked up to chargers, medical equipment, etc. Heck just dimming slightly over & over may cause problems too, so take my advice with a grain of salt!
Unfortunately, IMO the typical surge protector probably won't help protect such gear from that type of flickering because as far as I know, most surge protectors protect against abnormally large surges, like those that can be caused by nearby lightning strikes, rather than the normal-sized surges that I think can naturally occur when a device is first turned on.
I'm not trying to make you paranoid but personally if I lived there, I would unplug sensitive devices until they are needed. And I do mean unplug: many electronic devices nowadays use "soft touch" power switches that do not actually mechanically disconnect the device from the 120 volt power source.
* about 8 years ago our house - built in the late 70s - also began to have a flickering problem and I think low voltage issues - for example, the image on our TVs (tube-type TVs in this case) had visibly shrunken. A power company technician came out & discovered the ground rod for the house was malfunctioning (damaged? corroded? he didn't say) and they replaced it - problem solved.
Last edited by Ultrarunner; 08-06-2017 at 11:25 PM..
The OP can have an electrician check all the affected light circuits all the way back to the circuit breakers (or fuses, if that's the case). It means making sure that the light bulbs are good, and all connections are tight. Once that is done inside the house, then the problem may be caused by the power coming to the house. Also, keep in mind that back in the 60's it was very common to use aluminum wiring, and this material is prone to loose its points of contact (splices and such) in the circuit. Fuses were also very common back then. A loose contact can cause light flickering.
I would have it checked immediately. An electrician or even a competent amateur can easily decide whether it is in the house or the electric system. If it is in the house you want to make sure you do not have some condition that is going to set the home on fire. That would not be an unusual outcome for certain circuit flaws. Bad connections generate heat and that can cause a fire.
Original wiring and electrical panel? Is it fuses or breakers?
The house has breakers. The wiring is original however there was an addition 30 years ago.
We are going to talk to the neighbors on Monday and Mom has an electrician she can call if needed.
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but personally if I lived there, I would unplug sensitive devices until they are needed. And I do mean unplug: many electronic devices nowadays use "soft touch" power switches that do not actually mechanically disconnect the device from the 120 volt power source.
