Pro Tips on How To Know When To Call An Electrician
If you're new to homeownership and are wondering when to call a Santa Clara electrician, the answer is; anytime you're concerned about a problem. However, some complications don't warrant calling an electrician, such as screwing an outlet cover on tighter or resetting a breaker.
For your safety and your families, our Santa Clara electricians at Tested and True Electric recommend to never take the electrical system in your house lightly. If you see any of the following signs, it means you should call an electrician for electrical repairs as soon as possible.
Obvious Signs That Mean You Need To Call An Electrician
- Walls, switches, or outlets feel hot.
- Burn marks are located on or near outlets, ceiling fans, or lights.
- Odd burning smells seem to come and go.
- A breaker trips every time you try to use an appliance.
- Your lights flicker when you turn on an appliance (most often the microwave).
- Your appliances or electronics keep getting burned out.
- You have no choice but to use too many extension cords or power strips.
- There are sparks, pops, crackling, or other noises - most often coming from an outlet or light.
- Outlets don't work at all.
- Outlets or wall switches are loose.
DIY Electrical Troubleshooting Tips
Please note that our professionals do NOT recommend that you work on your electrical system yourself. Please call a licensed Santa Clara electrician rather than coming into contact with any part of your electrical system yourself.
However, before you pick up the phone and call an electrician, there is some basic troubleshooting you can do first which may solve the problem.
Check for tripped breakers - Whether the power is completely out in your Santa Clara home or just one light won't turn on, it's a good idea to check your main electrical panel for a tripped breaker. If you find one, reset the breaker to see if it works. If the breaker keeps tripping, call an electrician.
Check any outdoor electrical panels for tripped breakers - You may have subpanels for a hot tub and there will always be a subpanel for heavy appliances like an HVAC system. Also check the subpanels for tripped breakers.
Check outlets for a GFCI breaker trip - If an outlet in your home isn't working and there's no breaker trip in your main panel, it could be as simple as a GFCI outlet needing to be reset. If just one trips, it can other outlets not to function. Outlets in your bathrooms and kitchen should be GFCI outlets. They have a reset button which will reset the outlet if the breaker inside trips. Push the reset button and also check all the other GFCI outlets.