What to do in a power cut
Half the emergency calls we take during bad weather are network faults. Two minutes of checking tells you which one you have.
Step one: look outside
If your neighbours are dark too, or the street lights are out, it is a network fault. Call 105 free from any landline or mobile in England, Scotland and Wales. It routes you straight to the distribution network operator for your area, who own the cables in the street. It is free, and they will tell you the estimated restoration time.
Step two: check your own board
If yours is the only property affected, take a torch to the consumer unit and look for:
- The main switch in the off position
- An RCD or RCBO that has tripped down
- A circuit breaker that has dropped
- Any smell of burning, or heat coming from the enclosure
If a device has tripped, switch off the circuit breakers below it, reset the RCD, then bring the circuits back one at a time to find the one at fault. If nothing has tripped and there is no supply at all, the problem is likely to be at the cut-out or the meter, which belongs to your supplier and not to us.
Never remove the main fuse or break a seal on the service head. That equipment belongs to the network operator and is live at all times. Tampering with it is dangerous and illegal.
While the power is off
- Keep freezers and fridges closed. A full freezer holds temperature for around 24 hours unopened.
- Switch off cookers, hobs, irons and heaters at the wall, so they do not all restart together when supply returns.
- Leave one light switched on so you know the moment power comes back.
- Use torches rather than candles, especially with children or pets in the house.
- If anyone in the house relies on electrical medical equipment, register with your network operator for the Priority Services Register before you need it.
When to call us instead
Call an electrician when the supply is present but your installation will not stay on, when a device trips repeatedly, when there is any smell of burning, or when part of the property has power and part does not. Those are all faults inside your boundary, and they are exactly what our emergency line is for.
Still not right? Our emergency line is answered around the clock on 01273 095564. If it can wait until morning, we will tell you.
Related advice and services
24 hour emergency call-outs
One number, answered by a person, day or night. If you have no power, a burning smell from a socket, or a fuse board that will not reset, this is the emergency electrician call-out you want. We cover Lewes and the rest of Sussex around the clock, including weekends and bank holidays.
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Why your RCD keeps tripping
Resetting it again and again is not a fix. The device is telling you that current is going somewhere it should not.
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Fuse board and RCD upgrades
Fuse box replacement and consumer unit upgrades, from old rewireable fuses to a metal board with an RCBO on every circuit. A modern board protects each circuit on its own, so one faulty appliance no longer takes the whole house out. Tested, certified and notified under Part P, usually in a day.
Read moreLights out, burning smell or a tripping fuse board? Call us now.
Trusted emergency electricians in Sussex
We have been covering Sussex for 25 years. In that time the wiring regulations have moved through several editions and consumer units have changed shape more than once, while the faults themselves have stayed much the same: loose connections running hot, tired cable, and protection that was never fitted in the first place.
That experience is the difference between guessing and knowing. It is also why we can usually tell you on the phone whether a fault needs a van tonight or a booking on Tuesday, which saves you the out of hours rate more often than you might expect.
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