Category: Troubleshooting

Electrical problems are too much of a risk to leave unattended. If you’re reading this, you’re probably wondering why your lights flicker when you turn on the AC. It’s important to know that your AC needs a high amount of electricity to power up initially. Turning it up will eventually lead to it draining energy from other appliances already turned on, like your lights. This is what causes them to flicker. Subsequently, your lights would also dim and lose about 5% of their initial brightness. This is a normal occurrence if you have a modern AC unit or you live in an older home, then you may have nothing to worry about.

However, it’s not always like that in most cases, and you have to be on the lookout for when flickering lights mean something a bit more frightening. If you’ve noticed that your lights are starting to flicker, you would need to do a routine check. Go around the house and be on the lookout for any other lights in any other place that’s flickering as well. Check out if it’s in a particular area or has a wide coverage. Try out other appliances to know what else could be causing them to flicker.

If you’ve noticed a more consistent flickering in other places as well, the first step would be to call a professional electrician to have it properly checked and the problem fixed. Here are some common problems that are causing your lights to dim or flicker.

Damaged or Loose Wires: if you have damaged or loose wires, your lights probably turn off and on rapidly and consistently when you turn on your AC. You’d notice discoloration or charred wiring leading to a loss of electrical current flowing to the light bulbs, as well as temporary voltage drops causing the lights to flicker and dim.

Your AC Has A Weak Capacitor: it’s okay for your lights to go a little dim when you turn on your AC. It happens in a split second and not many people notice it because it’s not as noticeable as you’d think. If your lights lose a significant amount of their brightness at once when the AC comes on, you most likely have a faulty capacitor. A capacitor is meant to store energy to give the compressor an extra boost when it starts. When it loses its ability to store and therefore provide energy, your AC draws on that energy from the other appliances in your home, like your lightbulbs.

Your Circuit is Overloaded: a buzzing or crackling sound followed by the consistent dimming of lights are telltale signs that your circuit is overloaded. If your lights go off as soon as your AC comes on, that’s a sign as well. Your AC needs its own circuit to function properly. Adding any other appliance could cause the circuit to overload. These could start sparks or even fires. All sorts of electrical problems should be considered very critical and treated as such.

Are you bothered about how much electricity your stove is using? Do you wonder what appliances use the most electricity as your electric bill comes in? Are you looking for the advantages and benefits of using an electric stove instead of a gas cooker?

In this article, we would exemplify how your stove uses electricity, how to reduce your electric stove electricity usage, the advantages and benefits of using an electric stove, the options available for cooking, and their pros and cons.

If you need to add a new circuit for your stove, give The Electric Connection a call!

How To Determine How much Electricity your Electric Stove is Using

According to research, an electric stove uses on average about 2,000 to 5,000 watts during use depending on so many factors, including:

Number of burners

How many burners do you use? How often do you use more than one burner while cooking? All these will depend on how much electricity you use while cooking.

Oven Usage

Do you power your oven with electricity? Ovens are known to use more electricity than stoves. Your oven usage and frequency can greatly affect your electricity consumption.

Cooking Duration

How often do you cook? How long do you cook? Do you make multiple foods and make meals for large people? All these can adversely affect how low or high the amount of electricity you use.

How To Reduce Your Stove Electricity Usage

You can reduce your electricity use with some tips no matter how much cooking you do. Sometimes, you can save up some watts of electricity by being organized, careful, and following the tips below:

Use the same burner-to-pot ratio

It is advisable to use the same circumference of the burner for your pot. When you use a larger burner for a smaller pot, you are wasting electricity you could have ordinarily saved.

Meal Preps

To save electricity, you need to learn how to make meal preparations and do all the washing and cutting before turning on your electric stove. This will save you the electricity while prepping your meals while your electric stove is on. You would be amazed at the amount of energy you save when you begin to do this.

4 Advantages of Using Electric Stove

Let’s highlight a few benefits of using an electric stove.

1. It is safer and easier to turn off and turn on an electric stove.
2. It is noticeable that the kitchen is cooler while cooking with an electric stove than with a gas stove.
3. It has a more stable surface for pots and pans and is easier to clean with a cooktop.
4. It is less expensive and easier to install unlike a gas stove with the hike in gas prices.

4 Disadvantages of Using an Electric Stove

Also, there are a few disadvantages to using an electric stove: They are:

1. It is dependent on electricity. When there is a power outage then you can’t cook either.
2. Some electric stoves, especially the modern ones, cost more than gas stoves. Which is generally not cost-effective.
3. They cook food slower than gas stoves. The cooking time is slower which may not be helpful when you are hungry.
4. The cooktops can be easily damaged if handled carelessly which may not be cost-effective.