Six days, plus evenings on the on-call line
Burning smell. Scorched outlet. Half the house dark.
The after-hours line rings an electrician who can see the board, not a message service.
Before anything else
If you can smell burning, see scorching or smoke, or an outlet or panel is hot to the touch, do not investigate it. Leave it alone, get people away from it, and call the fire service first if there is any smoke at all. Turning a breaker off is the only thing worth doing yourself, and only if you can reach the panel without passing the problem.
Stop and call
Seven things that are not “keep an eye on it”.
Most electrical problems can wait for a working day. These cannot, because every one of them is a sign that energy is going somewhere it was not meant to go.
- 01Any smell of burning plastic near an outlet, switch or panel
- 02Scorch marks, melting or discolouration on a faceplate
- 03An outlet, switch or breaker that is warm or hot to the touch
- 04Buzzing, crackling or a sizzling sound from the panel
- 05A breaker that trips again immediately after being reset
- 06Water anywhere near the panel, a meter base or a live circuit
- 07A shock — however small — from an appliance, tap or fixture
Book it
Tell us what the house is doing.
Four fields and a sentence. Someone calls you back with a real arrival window — usually the same working day.
(555) 555-0142Monday – Friday: 7:00 am – 6:00 pmSaturday: 8:00 am – 2:00 pmSunday: Urgent calls only
A modern house at dusk with the windows lit from inside