This one needs a licensed pro
Stop: warning signs at the panel or heater
Smoke or flames mean get out, stay out and call 911. Sparks, heat, a burning smell, scorch marks, buzzing or water near the panel or the heater means do not reset the breaker. Stay out of any water, keep people back and call a licensed electrician, and if the sign is at the panel itself, leave and call 911 or your electric utility from outside.
Why this happens
CPSC lists sizzling or buzzing sounds, overheating and the odor of hot insulation among the warning signs of a hazard in a home electrical system, and says parts should never be hot, painful to touch or discolored from heat. Family Handyman says to call a licensed electrician if you smell something burning or see scorch marks. CDC says not to walk into standing water to reach the power and never to turn power on or off while standing in water; call an electrician instead.
What to do right now
- If you see smoke or flames, or the burning smell keeps getting stronger, get out, stay out and call 911 from outside.
- Do not reset the breaker, and do not open the heater's access panels or the metal cover of the electrical panel. If the warning sign is at the panel itself, or there is water near the panel, do not touch the panel at all. If the burning smell, sparks, heat or sizzling is at the panel itself, get everyone out of the house and call 911 or your electric utility's emergency line from outside. CPSC says that if the service equipment that brings power from the utility lines to your panel is arcing or sparking, you should not touch any of it and should call the electric power company right away. CPSC also says never to remove the panel's metal cover, because that is a job for a qualified electrician.
- If there is water on the floor near the panel or the heater, stay out of it.
- If the sparks, scorch marks, smell, heat, sound or water are only at the heater, the panel shows none of these signs, there is no water near the panel and you are standing on a dry floor, open only the hinged panel door and switch the water heater breaker off. Family Handyman says to stand to the side of the panel and turn your face away when you flip a breaker. If you cannot tell which breaker it is, switch off the main breaker; CDC's electrical safety page for after a disaster says to shut off the power at the main breaker if there is an odor of something burning but no visible fire, and to turn off the power when electrical equipment is wet or near water, without walking through standing water to reach it.
- Keep people away from the panel and the heater, and call a licensed electrician now. If water is leaking from the heater, also call a licensed plumber.
When to stop. Smoke or flames, or a burning smell that keeps getting stronger: get out, stay out and call 911. A burning smell, sparks, heat or sizzling at the panel itself: do not touch it, get everyone out and call 911 or your electric utility from outside. Water near the panel: do not touch the panel.
What to tell the electrician
- What you noticed: heat, a smell, scorch marks, a sound or water, and where.
- That the electric water heater has no hot water, and whether you could see if its breaker had tripped.
- The make, model and age from the data plate.
Build the full list: what to tell the licensed electrician.
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