No Electricity? 5 Easy Things to Check First

Whenever one of my tenants loses electricity somewhere in the house, the first thing they do is call me instead of looking outdoors to see if anyone else on the block has lost their electricity. While there is nothing that can be done about a neighborhood or city wide electrical outage, fixing what’s inside the house is often easier than a person might think. Here are 5 easy things you can check on your own if you suddenly lose electricity in either all or part of the house. Do be careful since the last thing you want is a nasty electric shock.

Check the connection. Things get unplugged more often than you might think. If the HDTV just frizzed out in the middle of a movie or a floor lamp turns off mysteriously, check to see if the plug is still firmly in the socket.

Check the appliance. Sometimes an outage is not in the wall, but in the appliance you are using. Small handheld appliances such as irons and hair dryers often break down in the middle of using them. Try plugging the appliance into another wall socket in a room that still has functioning electricity. If it still doesn’t work, then it may be time to buy a new hair dryer, radio, or whatever.

Press the reset button. Garbage disposals, hair dryers, and even vacuum cleaners will turn off automatically when they become clogged or overheated. To fix this problem, simply unplug the machine, let cool, and then clear away any obstructions. Once the obstruction has been removed, pressing the reset button on the appliance will usually restore power.

Reset the GFI. A ground fault circuit interrupter (GFI) is an outlet that has been equipped with a built in circuit breaker to prevent shock in the bathrooms and kitchen. When my renters try to use too many appliances in an outlet, the GFI trips the relay and power is shut off to one or more outlets in the room. To restore power to the outlet, simply unplug the appliances and press the reset button located in the middle of the outlet.

Check the breaker box. If you lose power to more than just a couple of outlets, you may have tripped a switch in the breaker box. Usually found near the back or side door of the house, the breaker is a metal box filled with labeled switches that control all the electricity in your home. A breaker that’s been tripped will be in the “off” position. Flipping the switch back to “on” should solve the problem. If the breaker pops off again, then your home is running more electricity through the wires than the breaker can handle. Turning off excess lights and appliances usually helps; if the problem continues, then it’s time to call an electrician.

More by this contributor:
How to replace a missing outlet cover.
How to replace an electric stove top burner.
What to do when the electrical outlet in your bathroom doesn’t work.