Cheryl wrote:
Hello. It's possible I can't give enough information here for a
diffinitive answer, but I'm asking anyway. My lights and other
electrical appliances have recently been experiencing surges of
power; lights go brighter, refridgerator goes louder, etc. I'm afraid
this is going to damage something, or cause a fire. I've called the
power company and their annoying automated messages state that
flickering lights (etc) are usually caused by interier wiring, yet
others I've spoken to say that nothing can cause EXTRA power to be
supplied to the affected appliances, diminished yes, extra (surges)
no. It also doesn't effect one or two circuits, either, but pretty
much the whole house. Should I contact an electrician, or have the
power company come out and inspect? They say they'll charge me $80
for the visit if the problem isn't in their wiring, and they might
not be able to resolve it for that price.


I have no difinitive answers, and am not an electrician by any means,
however many years back I had an experience that also made no sense
like getting power to circuits that were clearly turned off.
The problem in our case was a new concrete footing settled onto the
power line coming into the house and caused a short between the
different phases of the line. So turning on a switch on one circuit
caused appliances in another circuit to turn on!

Another possibility is that your appliances are actually continually
running at low power and the "surges" you are experiencing are actually
the appliances returning to normal.

As for how to decide if you want the power company to comeout or an
electrician, check your neighbors and see if they are having the same
problem. If they are all having the same problem, have the power
company come out. If it is just your house (and there is no obvious
damage to the wiring just outside your house) and electrician is
probably the right answer.

RBV