Power outage - grid, building or your installation fault? Check in 3 steps

Step 1: look around - is it the whole area?

Look out the window. If the streetlights are off, the windows of neighbouring buildings are dark, or traffic lights are not working - it is almost certainly a fault or a planned outage on the part of the grid operator. In our area, this is Tauron Dystrybucja.

• Check outages at your address - our power outage checker shows planned and emergency Tauron outages and can notify you via SMS before the power goes out;
• Report a grid fault - the emergency number for the energy emergency service is 991;
• in such a situation, an electrician will not speed things up - a fault on the grid side can only be resolved by the operator.

Step 2: common areas - staircase, lift, basement

If there is power in the flat, but the staircase lighting, lift or intercom is not working - this is the area of responsibility of the building manager or administration. Similarly, when there is no power in several units on one riser: the cause may be the pre-meter protection or the internal power supply line, to which the tenant does not (and should not) have access.

In municipal premises, the report should be directed to the property manager - e.g. in Wałbrzych MZB runs its own technical emergency service for administered buildings. Honestly: if you live in such a property, this is often the correct and free path - there is no point in booking a paid visit where the repair is the responsibility of the administration. However, we support housing associations and managers comprehensively - details on the electrical maintenance of buildings page.

Step 3: problem only in your premises

Do your neighbours have power, the stairwell works, but it is dark at your place? Take a look at the fuse board:

• if any lever is down - you can try to lift it once; if it trips again immediately, do not force further attempts;
• if part of the flat is not working (e.g. only the sockets in the kitchen or "half the house") - this is a typical symptom of a single circuit fault or a phase loss;
• if you smell burning, a socket or switch is hot, or you hear buzzing - turn off this circuit in the fuse board and do not use it until it is checked.

What not to do: do not replace fuses with "stronger" ones, do not open the distribution board beyond levers and buttons, do not look for a fault "on a trial basis" with wet hands or in the dark on a ladder. A fuse that trips is doing its job - the problem is elsewhere.

What to prepare before calling an electrician

• address, floor and building type (tenement house, block of flats, house);
• what exactly is not working - everything, one circuit, a single socket;
• what happened before: storm, renovation, new appliance, flooding;
• if you can - a photo of the fuse board.

With such a description, we will immediately assess the scope more accurately and provide the price of the diagnosis before the visit. We accept reports 24/7 - the phone is answered by an assistant, and we confirm the visit time with a specific hour. You can also book a visit online, without creating an account.