Tuesday 26 July 2016

No power after a storm in Newtown

We quite often see a flood of calls coming to us for emergency electrical faults during and after major weather events such as storms or cyclones.  One recent call was from Steve who lives in Newtown and he called us due to the fact that his power was off and had been that way for a number of hours after a particularly severe storm.  At Sydney Local Electricians, we are more than happy to go through an initial check prior to us coming to your home just to be sure that we are not dispatched to your home prematurely and costing you unnecessary time and money.  Weather, accidents, and storms can disrupt the electricity we are so used to having so if you need a Newtown Electrician, we are always available. 

Sometimes electricity flickers momentarily then comes back however serious damage to power lines and the electrical grid can cause outages for days, or weeks. Steve was wise to call us as he was the only person on Kent Street without power and we found that he had a water damaged switchboard – something that would not have been picked up by the average homeowner.

Short-Term Power Failures
It’s always important not to panic.  By doing some basic checks, this can determine whether you may need to call an electrician or your electricity provider.  Firstly, check to see if your neighbours still have electricity. If they do, the problem could be inside your home. Check your main fuses or circuit breakers to see if they have blown or tripped. If they can’t be reset or keep tripping, this is a really good time to call a Newtown ElectricianSydney Local Electricians is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and you can reach us on 0415 11 66 22. If there is any immediate problems such as sparking, burning electrics or noises coming from electrical outlets, especially if these issues are near water that has banked up from a storm, remove yourself, your family and your pets away from the immediate area and call us immediately.  

If the problem is not in your home, you can call your electric supplier and they should also be able to tell you if it will be an extended outage.  Unplug appliances with electronic components, such as microwaves, televisions and computers. This will help to eliminate damage to your appliances from voltage surges when the electricity is restored and wait a few minutes before turning on these appliances when the electricity is restored. This will reduce demand on the power supplier's electrical system.

Long-Term Power Failures
If you are going to use a standby generator, be sure it has been installed and wired properly by a Newtown Electrician. If improperly installed, a generator could cause dangerous conditions for the utility supplier's employees working to restore the power. Of course, it is also important to be sure that a fresh supply of fuel to power the generator is on hand and stored properly.  To make an outage easier to cope with, keep an adequate supply of the following on hand at all times. These should be kept in a cool, dry place:  
  •  Flashlights
  • Battery-operated radio
  • Candles and matches
  • Extra supply of batteries for flashlights and radio
  • Basic first-aid supplies
  • A small supply of drinking water and food
  • Baby supplies if an infant is in the home



Never go near downed power lines; always call the power supplier to handle these situations.  Remember that it’s far safer to call a Newtown Electrician from the team at Sydney Local Electricians and get the expertise required to eliminate an electrical problem after a storm rather than risk injuring yourself or those around you.

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