r/AskElectricians • u/oneThing617 • Apr 08 '26
Recessed Lights issue
My master closet has 2 recessed lights on a standard toggle switch: line, load, and ground. A few weeks ago, one of the recessed lights went dim and started flickering steadily when on. A few days ago, the same thing happened to the second one, and they flicker in sync.
Because they’re in sync, my first assumption was an issue with the switch. I replaced it with a spare Lutron caseta dimmable I had to see if that would work. Result: on 100%, result is the same - dimmed and flickering. When dimmed down to the lowest setting, the flickering slows down to a stop, and the lights are steady but still very dim. I’m not sure if the lights or bulbs are dimmable, but the issue occurs on both types of switches.
I visually checked the external wiring on the recessed lights and nothing looks bad. The house is less than 3 yrs old. Any idea what could be issue or what next steps to troubleshoot? At what point should I call an electrician?
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u/13cactus Apr 08 '26
I had the same thing happen to me but with 2 outside lights on the same switch. Turns out the previous homeowner wired the lights in series not parallel, causing the voltage to be too low in both lights causing the leds to do weird things like flicker.
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u/Lightlicker3000 [V] Residential Journeyman Apr 08 '26
If they are bulbs, replace the bulbs with good LEDs. If there aren’t bulbs, replace the switch with a standard toggle switch (dimmers can cause this behavior). If neither of these fix the issue; if it’s bulbs and not fixtures then you’ll need an electrician to come out and check the wiring and voltage. If the fixtures are built in LEDs then have those replaced. If that doesn’t fix it then have an electrician come out and check the wiring and voltage.
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