When your fluorescent light flickers or makes a loud and annoying hum, a degrading ballast could be the cause. Replacing a ballast is easier than you think, but ballasts can be expensive, so consider ...

Q: As I was changing the fluorescent light tube in my ceiling fixture, I rotated the bulb to get it out and I heard a “snap” and saw things falling from the fixture. I cringed and waited for the pain.

Recently I found smoke pouring out of a compact fluorescent bulb (CFL) in a basement light. I turned off the light, removed the bulb and rushed it outside. An incandescent installed in the same socket ...