If you have an electrical emergency, by their nature, they tend to be unexpected. Knowing what to do if such a situation occurs, is critical. Electrical emergencies are quite subjective, for example a socket not working, or a light switch not dimming correctly, is clearly not an emergency and can wait. On the other hand, if you can smell burning or if there is a power outage, clearly this needs professional attention ASAP.
Examples of emergencies:
– Buzzing or humming noise coming from the consumer unit
If your consumer unit is up to date and compliant with current building regulations, your consumer unit is designed to stop power to certain parts of your electrical installation should there be an issue. If you hear a noise from your consumer unit, it could be that the breaker is trying to trip to ‘off’ and there is a fault not allowing this to happen. Or it could be the fact there is a loose connection inside which is causing an ‘arc’ which could lead to a potential fire if not attended to.
– Smoke/ burning
It goes without saying that if you can see or smell a fire, immediately call the emergency services 999 and get out of the property straight away. If you can see or smell burning at a socket for example, it means there is either a fire or there will be very soon! Immediately turn the power off to the necessary circuits, or all of the power to the building and call for an emergency electrician. It is sensible to keep a fire extinguisher in the house, for when issues like this occur, remember DO NOT use water on electrical fires!
– Power outage
This depends on the situation. If for instance your whole street is without power, it is likely there is a local power-cut and the National Grid will arrange to get power back on. However, if the power outage only affects your property, there are problems that require immediate attention from an electrician.
We have put together a check-list of what to do whilst you are waiting for your electrician to arrive. Clearly this does not apply if there is a fire, where you should follow the above advice and get everyone to safety and call the emergency services:
- Stay calm and try not to panic – panicking rarely helps a situation, but its important to stay attentive and look for any signs of the issue worsening, eg smoke, fire and buzzing noises
- Turn off power and unplug electrical appliances – Assuming it’s safe, the first thing you should do in an electrical emergency is turn off the power at your main breaker, to prevent further damage. The next thing to do in unplug electrical appliances, which is particularly important if you can smell burning for instance and you don’t know where it is coming from.
- Make the space safe to work – to make it easier, quicker and safer for the electrician to work and make the property safe, it will help by decluttering the space where the electrician will work. Also, assuming there is no significant danger, it is helpful to keep children and pets in a safe place away from where the electrician will be working.
- Don’t touch electrical items – even if you have turned the power off, its important not to touch any electrical items, this is particularly true if the problem is a noise coming from the consumer unit, as this indicates that something has shorted somewhere.
- Prepare your emergency items – If you can smell smoke or see burning, keep your fire extinguisher to hand (one that is appropriate for electrical fires). It is also handy to keep a torch close-by should you lose power. Obviously, your electrician will bring any tools they require to complete the work.