What to Do If Your Power Goes Out

Let’s face it. You rely on electricity for everything.

Electricity provides you with the practical convenience of powering the lights during the evening and nighttime hours as well as in keeping your home cool or warm through the HVAC system.

In addition, electricity runs your appliances, preserving your food. While electricity may not have been available in homes centuries ago, the fact is that it is necessary to your way of life today.

However, there are times when the electricity is not always available in a home. When your power has unexpectedly gone out, you should follow a few key steps.

Step Outside

One of the first steps you should take when your electricity goes out is to step outside and observe. Your goal should be to determine if the electricity has gone out in your entire street or neighborhood or if your home is isolated in this event. During the evening hours, it may be easy to determine if the other homes nearby have been affected because you can see if street lights or house lights are on. During the daytime hours, you may need to listen for sounds like other AC units running. You may even knock on a neighbors’ doors to see if they are experiencing a similar event.

Check Your Circuit Breakers

If the event seems to be isolated to your own home and is not widespread throughout your street or neighborhood, you should consider flipping the main switch for your circuit breaker. You may have blown a fuse, and flipping the switch off and then on again may restore the power. This may be a sign that your system is overloaded, so you should consider contacting an electrician to prevent these issues from happening in the future. Until an electrician arrives, consider turning off some lights and unplugging non-essential appliances.

Contact the Power Company

If there is not an apparent reason for the power outage, such as a thunderstorm in the area, you should contact your power company to explore the matter in greater detail. The electricity may have gone out because of an incident nearby that supplies power to your street or home. Your local power company can provide you with an estimated time frame for making the repairs. Even if the incident is isolated to your home, you may consider contacting the power company. There may be a chance that your payment for your electricity bill was delayed or lost, and this may have resulted in the power supply for your home being turned off.

Until The Power Comes Back On

Whether you expect the power to come back on within the next few hours or longer, you should take a few key steps to minimize the impact of this event. If it is very hot or cold outside and the interior temperature of your home is becoming uncomfortable, consider taking your family to the mall, a movie or another climate-controlled venue until the power turns back on.

Also, keep the freezer and refrigerator doors closed. This can help to maintain the temperature in the fridge for as long as possible. If the power will be out for a long period of time, consider moving your refrigerated and frozen items into a cooler, and purchase ice for the cooler at a local gas station or grocery store.

When the power to your home goes out, you can be taken off guard. However, by following these steps, you can help to get the power back on more quickly and can minimize the impact of the event on your home and family.