Have you noticed your LED flickering? Luckily, fixing this issue should be simple; common causes include bad drivers or incompatible dimmers, low-quality bulbs or loose wires. Please read on!

First, we will explain the science of flickering. What exactly is flickering, does it reduce LED bulb lifespan and should there be any concern of an explosion of bulbs?

What Is Flickering?

Flickering lights are caused by oscillations in the power supply and may present health issues for those exposed. Flickering lighting cannot adequately illuminate spaces.

LEDs contain components that are extremely sensitive to their power source, which means that even slight variations in voltage/current input can cause them to flicker and show dim spots. Other causes could be power surges, dimmers not functioning correctly, loose connections or dust in the fixture which could also contribute to this behavior.

LED flickering light sources vary by type.

Visible Flickering of Light Sources
Visible flickering is easily detectable to the naked eye and occurs when frequency falls below 100Hz, often with light flickering hypersensitivity experiencing short-term seizures between frequencies of 3Hz to 70Hz; those exposed to 15Hz-20Hz experience long-term health problems as a result.

Flickering that is invisible to the naked eye may still cause minor health problems such as headaches, dizziness and nausea.

Are LED flickerings dangerous to my health?

Answering one of the most frequently asked questions, “Can flickering damage bulbs?” Yes. Your LED will most likely explode if there is flickering due to sudden voltage surge or power outage; loose wiring also often contributes to bulb flashing; these situations could cause your LED bulb to go on the fritz and possibly explode.

LED Flickering: Main Causes and Solutions

Let’s investigate the main sources of flickering bulbs so we can better understand why your bulb flickers and how to prevent future incidents. Once we know why bulbs flicker we will know why yours do!

1. Voltage Fluctuations

An irregular or disturbed voltage supply can result in voltage fluctuations. Also, this could happen if a heavy electronic appliance was to suddenly power up on within your electrical system; LEDs in your home will flicker due to this sudden overloading.

Flickering of this kind is temporary and occurs intermittently as voltage levels tend to stabilize after just a couple of moments; this could explain any intermittent flickering you witness throughout the day.

Heavy appliances often generate inrush current which can quickly drain batteries of heavy appliances.

Air conditioners and washing machines require a large load to start up properly, often leading to lights flickering when first powered up due to sudden surges of current in their electrical systems.

Connecting multiple appliances to one transformer at once can cause serious interruption in current flow and may result in power surges and disruption of current flow.

Ripple Effect
In certain countries (like Australia), ripple control reduces the amount of power going to certain areas to meet peak demand for electricity.

LEDs suddenly flicker due to the ripple effect, as an overwhelming portion of power consumption comes from home appliances.

Ripple effects may even threaten to reduce LED driver lifespan and must therefore be resolved urgently.

2. Poor LED Drivers

Each LED is connected to either an external or internal driver that serves the primary function of regulating current/voltage flow through an LED circuit. Heat fluctuations within an LED can cause power fluctuations that need regulating; an LED driver provides smooth current flow throughout its circuit to control this occurrence.

LED drivers act as converters by lowering voltage levels to meet LED requirements. Based on an LED’s power requirements, there are two different types of drivers available – Constant Current (CC) and Constant Voltage (CV).

If the LED driver fails to fulfill its duties as designed, your bulbs may flicker. Furthermore, improper functioning may damage bulbs and reduce lifespan significantly; high heat accumulation could even result in an explosion!

If your LEDs flicker, an electrician will first evaluate whether there are any faulty drivers present.

3. Dimming can cause LED flickering.

Let’s explore how LED dimming works first.

Dimming LEDs requires special consideration, since LEDs consist solely of electronic components. A phase dim effect occurs by shortening positive sine curves in AC current, thus decreasing how long each light bulb remains illuminated. Below is an illustration showing sine curves for both fully bright LEDs (left) and ones which have been dimmed by 50% (right).

Dimming: Trailing-Edge Dimming for Shortcutting” This dimming technique reduces the length of time that light bulbs remain at maximum brightness by turning on and off at an accelerated rate; 100 times per second t