Possible Causes of Lights Not Working

Our bedroom ceiling light stopped working. I checked the bulbs and checked the breaker. Bulbs were good and breaker had not tripped. I opened the wall switch and checked for power and discovered there is no power going to the light source.

First of all, I wonder how old your home is. Older homes say 20-25 years or older have the chance that there was improper alterations made to the current electrical systems which is the cause of many electrical issues. Repairs to these types of issues can be costly and can create tearing up of walls. With older homes, there is the issue of arching and it is possible that many of the electrical connections have been taped and do not have wire nuts installed. It is highly recommend that depending on the age of your home, you hire a licensed electrical contractor to determine where the problem is. If your home is newer than 20 years, it is possible there is a bad connection inside the wall. The wire nuts could have been installed too tightly, which over the years could cause the wires to break. Please remember live electricity can kill. I am assuming you know how to check for voltage, but just because you test one pair of wires and find them bad, it does not mean all wiring is bad or not live. I would recommend bringing in an electrician to check to connection boxes by starting at the light box in question and removing the wire nut, look for any broken or loose wires, and then go box to box. This is time consuming and eventually you should find the bad connection. Another possibility for the non-working light is maybe during construction a nail was inadvertently pounded into electrical wiring. In most cases, the electrical short would occur immediately and not over time, however it is possible that the nail just nicked the wiring and over time, the power has stopped to that light source. Again, electrical circuits can kill, so do not take anything for granted. An electrician can usually find the problem; fix the problem within an hour or two.