No lights? Before panicking, a few simple observations help you understand the situation and brief the electrician, without taking any risk.
Is it your home or the whole neighbourhood?
See whether neighbours or nearby streets are also in the dark. If so, the outage probably comes from the network: contact your distribution network operator.
A few safe checks
- See whether a breaker or residual-current device has tripped, without opening the panel cover
- Note whether the outage affects the whole house, one room or a single appliance
- Unplug recently connected appliances before resetting once
What not to do
- Open the panel or touch exposed wires
- Repeatedly reset a breaker that keeps tripping
- Use an appliance that is wet, damaged or smells of burning
When to call straight away
Call an electrician if the outage persists in your home while the neighbourhood has power, if the breaker trips again, or if you smell burning or see a blackened socket. If there is smoke, sparks or flames, leave the building and call 112.