Electrical problems are frightening precisely because most people have never been told what to actually do. Read this once now, and you will know the safe first moves before help arrives. Two minutes here can genuinely matter later.
First: is anyone in danger right now?
Fire or smoke you can see: get everyone out and call 999. Do not fight an electrical fire with water. If it is small, contained and you can do so without risk, switching off at the main switch removes the energy source, but people come first, always.
Someone receiving a shock: do not touch them. Break the contact by switching off at the socket or the main switch. If you cannot cut the power, use something dry and non-conductive, a wooden broom handle, to separate them from the source. Then call 999.
The main switch is your friend
Find your consumer unit now, before you ever need it, and identify the main switch. In any electrical emergency where it is safe to reach, turning it off makes the whole installation dead and buys time for help to arrive. Everyone in the house should know where it is.
Common situations, safe responses
- Burning smell or scorching around a socket or the fuse box. Switch off at the main switch and call an electrician now. A fishy or hot-plastic smell is overheating insulation.
- A breaker that trips straight back off when reset. Stop resetting it. It is disconnecting because something is wrong. Leave that circuit off and get it looked at.
- Water into sockets, appliances or the fuse box. Do not touch anything wet that is or might be live. If the route to the main switch is dry and safe, switch off there.
- All power gone. Check the neighbours and the street first. If the whole area is out it is a power cut: call 105, the free national line, to report it and get updates. If it is only your property, it is your installation: that is an electrician’s job.
- Buzzing, crackling or heat from the consumer unit. Treat as urgent. Switch off at the main switch if safe and call for help.
Who to call
999 for fire or injury. 105 for area power cuts. For everything else on this list, an electrician who actually answers: our emergency line is covered 24/7 and you speak to the electrician directly, who will talk you through making things safe before we even set off.
Ready to get it sorted?
Read about the service itself, or get in touch for a free, no-obligation estimate: Emergency Electrician in Essex.