I had a thought - Cheryl obviously has a PC and is at least PC literate
enough to find and post to this NG. Most would agree a surge protector is a
must have on her PC setup. We all have them somewhere.

Why not do this.

I have installed and used in business un-interruptible power supplies (UPS)
that have power monitors in them and will even 'smooth out' the levels
automatically. In other words maintain a constant 115V when the line varies
the +- 7 % it usually does. Well, I am not recommending this as a long term
solution BUT they also have serial outputs a logging of events with
configurable thresholds. So, you can see where your voltage is and record
every time it exceeds a predefined threshold. This one may do this
http://www.apcc.com/products/family/index.cfm?id=17 for $70. Worthwhile
even w/o the issues she is having.

Just a thought.

-B




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"Cheryl" wrote in message
...
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.

--
Cheryl

If it is everything then there a plethora of places to start. Neighbors
would be first in my list. Especially if they are on the same transformer
or
line. Not if they are on a different transformer or line.
Next would be to check all of the connections in the panel. Not a good
place
to play unless your comfortable working around an invisible servant that
wants to kill you.
Some humor.
It would be handy if you had a voltage meter that had a scale that you
could
measure the voltage. Can you borrow one. Needs to have a zero to 300 VAC
scale. Radio Shack has some that are less than 100 bucks.

If it persists then try the utility. Now your heading into a mess. There
are standards that they must provide. It is plus 10% to minus 7% of
nominal. That means that the average plug could read any thing from 132 to
111.6 volts. The sad part of IEEE 519 is the next paragraph says except
for
short periods of time. No definition on this one.
Is a day a short period of time compared to a year, you bet.

If you do not want to borrow or buy a meter then it is probably time to
call
someone to come over and check it out. Plan on the problem going away when
they arrive. It usually does, my experience anyway.
This might need a recording meter left on the service for at least 24
hours,
I would want a weeks worth of data.