Strange electrical coincidence?

[Anonymous]

Tonight our hall light blew out. Two hours later our bedroom overhead light blew out. (Two blown out bulbs) Both lights are near new switches to two new overhead lights in our bathroom. These were put in last eeek and today.

My husband watched as these electricians put new wires in the panel, connected new wires to new switches and did not touch anything else. He saw them put in a safety breaker, combined AFCI/GFCI.

What’s causing this? Coincidence? Something the electricians did? Fwiw, we had a heavy up done some years back.

[Anonymous]

Have you noticed other lights flickering or being brighter than normal?

It could just be coincidence, but it could be caused by over-voltage.

A brief, over-simplified description of how electricity is provided: in the US, electricity comes into the home at 240 volts. This is provided by two wires, called "legs." The legs are configured so that between them is 240 volts, and between each leg and ground is 120 volts. The outlets and lighting in the house only use 120 volts, so they're connected to one leg and to ground. High power appliances like ovens, dryers and air conditioners use 120 volts and are connected to both legs.

If one leg is more heavily loaded than the other, the voltage on it can drop. This causes the voltage on the other leg to rise. It can also happen that the connection to ground has a problem and the voltage between ground and the legs isn't equal. Electricians would call this a "loose neutral."

Usually you'd notice this by lights being brighter or dimmer than normal as the voltage fluctuates. If this is happening, you want to get it fixed because both high and low voltage can damage sensitive devices.

It's possible the electrician damaged something, but it could also just be aging of your electrical system.

[Anonymous]

Bulbs usually burn out at the same time if they are used the same and were put in at the same time.

[Anonymous]

Small surges in the neighborhood can cause multiple blown bulbs.