Problem
The electricity suddenly goes off in all or part of the house. You may hear a ‘bang’ when it does.
Likely cause
A sudden change in the electricity in the circuit, has caused the house’s residual current device (RCD) safety devices to ‘trip out’.
What you can do
- Locate the box that contains the RCDs. It is in the small cupboard under the stairs.
- One or more or the switches will be pointing down. (Up is ‘on, down is ‘off’.)
- (If no switches are pointing down, there may be a general powercut (‘outage’) in the neighbourhood.)
- Push the switch up, but do not hold it up – be prepared for it to flip back down again.
- If the switch stays up, all’s well, it was just a temporary problem.
Extra tip
As this may happen at night, keep a working torch (‘flashlight’) near the RCD box.
If this doesn’t work
If the switch flips back down, or it only stays on for a while, there is a problem in the circuit that needs investigating by a professional electrician.