Energy Efficient Electrical Designs for New Homes

When The Lights Go Out: Call The Electrician Now Or In the Morning?

15 July 2015

Kimberly Garrett

Snow falling in New South Wales has delighted those who have never seen snow before, but cold temperatures put a strain on electricity supplies as people struggle to keep warm. When your home starts objecting to the extra use of electricity, it is difficult to decide whether to ask for help from an emergency electrician or wait until morning.

Here are two situations when you need to get professional help out to your home now:

Circuit Breakers

When one circuit breaker in your fuse box is constantly tripping to the off position, this may be a sign a particular appliance plugged into this area is shorting out. The breaker is labelled with the room it relates to and you can remove your appliances one at a time and then turn the breaker back on to try and isolate the problem.

However, when all your circuit breakers are tripping off during or just after a winter storm, you need an electrician to visit as soon as possible. Your electrical wiring is carrying too much load for its design and the circuit breakers are protecting your home and family by switching off. An electrician is required to determine why so much power is trying to enter the home and you should not override your circuit breakers until this is checked out.

Burning Smell

Do you smell something burning, but cannot isolate where the smell is coming from? If it smells like burning plastic, then it is possible the wiring in your walls is melting because of a power surge running through it.

The first thing you must do is to isolate which room it is coming from so that you can cut the power to that room. Check each of your electrical sockets and light switch cases by smelling them up close and determine where the smell of burning is strongest. This is the room that you need to turn off the electricity to if your circuit breaker has not tripped already. If it is a room that cannot last the night without electricity, for example, a kitchen that has a chest freezer filled with food, then you need to call out an emergency electrician to search for the problem.

It is not fun when electricity in the home is problematic during a cold spell as you need it to keep warm and cosy. However, calling on the services of an emergency electrician should help you return the home to safe running order quickly.

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