Vent, Valve & VoltElectrical checklist
Leave or call right now
- Smoke or flames from an outlet, switch, panel, fixture or appliance911
- A burning or hot-plastic smell from an outlet, switch or fixtureLicensed electrician now; 911 if there is smoke
- Sparks, popping, crackling, or scorch marks at an outlet or switchLicensed electrician now, with the breaker off
- A hot, buzzing or scorched panel or breaker, or a breaker that trips the instant you reset itLicensed electrician now
- A shock or tingle from an appliance, switch or outletLicensed electrician now
- A power line down, sagging or touching a tree911 or your utility
- Flooding, or water reaching the panel, outlets or cordsLicensed electrician; your utility if water is near the meter
- Half the house dead with no tripped breaker, or flicker across the whole houseYour utility first, and a licensed electrician at the same time
Safe to try first
- Reset a tripped breaker once: open only the hinged panel door, stand to the side, turn your face away, push the handle firmly to OFF, then ON. Never remove the metal cover behind the door.
- Reset a GFCI, and look for a tripped GFCI upstream in a bathroom, kitchen, garage, basement or outside. Press TEST, then RESET, once a month.
- Unplug devices, add them back one at a time to find a bad one, and spread heavy appliances across different circuits.
- Use a plug-in outlet tester, or a non-contact voltage tester checked on a known live outlet before and after. A quiet tester is not proof an outlet is safe.
- Tighten or replace a bulb with the switch off and the bulb cool, and use LEDs marked dimmable on a dimmer.
- On a ceiling fan, check the wall switch, the pull chain and the remote's batteries and range.
- Test smoke alarms monthly, replace their batteries, and replace a battery-only alarm 10 years after its manufacture date.
Call a pro soon
- A breaker that trips again after one resetLicensed electrician
- A GFCI that will not reset, or fails its monthly testLicensed electrician
- A standard switch or outlet that feels warm, or a dimmer that is warm with the lights offLicensed electricianTurn its breaker off until it is checked.
- Lights that flicker or dim in one spot after a bulb swap, or frequently across the houseLicensed electrician; utility too if it is house-wide
- Outlets that stay dead after you check breakers, GFCIs and wall switchesLicensed electrician
- Discolored outlets or switches, plugs that fall out, or a steady buzzLicensed electrician
- A home wired between 1965 and the mid-1970s, or AL or Aluminum printed on cable jacketsLicensed electrician
- Wiring that has not been inspected in decadesLicensed electrician
Write this down before you call
What is affected?
What did the breaker do?
Which breaker, and what kind?
Indicator light on the breaker
Did you find a tripped GFCI?
Anything you smelled, felt, heard or saw
When did it start, and what changed?
When was the house built?
Printing on visible cable jackets
Panel brand
Utility and neighbors
What is plugged in or running on that circuit?
Every stop-and-call sign and try-first step comes from the sources listed at ventvalveandvolt.com/volt/when-to-call-an-electrician/.