When something goes wrong with your electrics, it’s not always obvious whether you need an emergency electrician or whether it can wait until normal working hours. Calling someone out on an evening or weekend costs more, so knowing the difference can save you money — and knowing when NOT to wait could save your life.

Definite Emergencies — Call Immediately

Complete loss of power. If your entire property has lost power and your neighbours still have theirs, you likely have a serious fault. Check your consumer unit first — if the main switch has tripped and won’t stay on when you reset it, there’s an active fault on one of your circuits. Don’t keep trying to reset it. Call an electrician.

Burning smell from sockets, switches, or the fuse box. A burning or hot plastic smell near any electrical fitting means something is overheating. Switch off the affected circuit at the consumer unit immediately. If you can’t identify which circuit it is, turn off the main switch. This is a fire risk and needs same-day attention.

Sparking or arcing. Occasional tiny sparks when you plug something in can be normal. But visible sparking from a socket, switch, or the consumer unit itself — especially accompanied by a buzzing or crackling sound — is a serious fault. Turn off the power and call immediately.

Electric shock from a fitting. If you receive a shock from a socket, switch, tap, radiator, or any metal surface in your home, there’s a fault with the earthing or bonding. This is dangerous and needs urgent investigation. Don’t use the fitting again until it’s been checked.

Exposed live wiring. If wiring has been exposed through damage — a nail through a cable, storm damage, DIY gone wrong — keep everyone away from the area, turn off the relevant circuit (or the main switch if you’re unsure), and call for help.

Electrical fault with water present. Water and electricity are a lethal combination. If you have a leak near electrical fittings, flooding in a room with sockets, or any situation where water is in contact with wiring, turn off the main switch at the consumer unit and call an electrician immediately. Don’t wade through standing water to reach the consumer unit — call your electricity supplier’s emergency number (105) to disconnect the supply from outside.

Urgent but Not Emergency

A single circuit has tripped and won’t reset. If one MCB (miniature circuit breaker) in your consumer unit has tripped and won’t stay on, that circuit has a fault. But if the rest of your electrics are working and the tripped circuit isn’t essential (a bedroom lighting circuit, for example), this can usually wait until the next working day.

A socket has stopped working. A dead socket is inconvenient but rarely dangerous. It could be a loose connection, a faulty socket, or a tripped breaker. If there’s no burning smell or visible damage, it can wait for a daytime appointment.

Flickering lights. Occasional flickering in a single light fitting is usually a loose connection or a failing lamp. Flickering across multiple fittings or across the whole house is more concerning and should be investigated promptly — but unless it’s accompanied by a burning smell, it’s not a middle-of-the-night emergency.

An RCD keeps tripping. Your RCD (residual current device) protects against earth leakage — the kind of fault that can cause electrocution. If it trips repeatedly, something on your circuits is leaking current to earth. Try resetting it with appliances unplugged. If it holds, plug things back in one at a time to find the culprit. If it won’t hold at all, call an electrician — but during working hours is usually fine as long as you leave the affected circuits off.

Not an Emergency

Adding extra sockets, fitting new lights, upgrading your consumer unit, getting an EICR, or fixing a broken doorbell — these are all standard jobs that should be booked during normal hours.

What to Do While You Wait

If you’ve identified an emergency and are waiting for an electrician, isolate the problem as much as you can. Turn off the affected circuit, or the main switch if you’re not sure which circuit is faulty. Don’t attempt DIY repairs on live electrics. Keep children and pets away from the affected area. If there’s a risk of fire, call 999.

We offer emergency callouts across Rotherham and South Yorkshire, including evenings and weekends. If you’re not sure whether your situation is an emergency, call us and we’ll advise — no charge for the phone call. 01709 645 115 or WhatsApp us.

MP Electrical — your local qualified electrician in Rotherham.