Question

Why do fluorescent lights flicker?

Answer

Magnetic ballasts operate the lamps on the 60-cycle frequency (60 Hz) that comes to them over the power line. This means the lamp lights up 60 times every second. In the realm of vision this is pretty slow, so the lamp is perceived to flicker. The flicker has nothing to do with the type of lamp (cool white, warm white, etc.). Switching to an electronic ballast will eliminate flicker because its solid-state circuitry converts 60 Hz to over 20 kHz.