I've lost some of my electric power ( my sockets / lights / heaters aren't working )

Please note you should never attempt to undertake any electrical repairs yourself; this includes any alterations to electrical fixtures and fittings e.g., replacing a socket, switch, light fitting or altering any wiring.

Our self-help information is intended to help you get your power back on where there is an easy fix, diagnose an electrical issue, or isolate a potentially dangerous area.

Before you do anything, you should check your fuse board to see if anything has tripped (the switch is pointing down). Your fuse board is usually found in a cupboard under the stairs, your kitchen or your hallway. If your home has storage heaters, these usually have their own separate fuse board.

There may be two fuse boxes in properties that are ‘all-electric’ (no gas in the property). If this is the case in your home, you will need to check both.

It may be that a single circuit has tripped. All the circuits will be labelled – for example “kitchen”, “upstairs”, “appliance sockets”, “shower”, etc.

If a single circuit has tripped

Try to turn the circuit back on by flipping it back to its original position. If the switch stays up and causes no further problems, no further action needs to be taken.

If the circuit labelled RCD has tripped, turn all the switches to the down position. You will then need to flip the switches back on in the following order:

• Main switch.
• Any RCDs (there may be several). Sometimes these need to be pushed right to the bottom first and then back to the top.
• The individually labelled circuits, one-by-one.

During this process you should find that one of the individually labelled circuits trips the RCD. Leave this circuit off while you move to the next step. Please choose the appropriate option from below.