No Power

Power problems can be divided into 2 basic categories: house wiring problems or utility problems

==> Is the power out in only part of the house, only some lights or some outlets?

• Check for a tripped circuit breaker.  If all the breakers look normal, double check by individually clicking each breaker 'Off' and then back 'On'.  Circuit breakers don't always indicate whether they have tripped. However, if when you reset a breaker, you hear a buzz, or see a spark or the existing lights flicker, you have a short circuit and need to call us to locate and fix the problem.

• If the power problem is related to an outlet for a bathroom, garage, basement or outdoors, you may have to find a GFI outlet located in another of these areas.  A GFI outlet in one area often affects the outlets in these other areas. Read up on GFI outlets in this Helpful Hints section.

• If a kitchen counter outlet is not working, it could be the breaker, or you may have a GFI outlet elsewhere on the kitchen counter area.

• Have lights been flickering occasionally, getting dimmer, or even getting unusually bright sometimes? It's helpful to know which type of flickering you have: brighter then back to normal, or dimmer and then back to normal. In either case, this indicates a poor connection that needs to be corrected.

Also read the sections: "Overloaded circuits", "Short circuits" and "GFI outlets."

Solving these problems takes experienced detective work to find and fix them. It might only be a $1.00 part that's bad, but finding where that bad part is takes skill. Give us a call.

==> Is the power out in the entire house, or
==> Is the power out in 1/2 the house and your electric (not gas) oven and dryer do not get hot??

• Check your main circuit breaker. Reset it if it has tripped off, but this is very unusual.

• Are your neighbors having similar power problems? (Are their lights on?)
  Call them to check. If the neighbors have the same problem then you can expect that the power company has a problem it has to fix. Call them with your information.
  

  • JCP&L: (888) 211-4877
  • PSE&G: (800) 436-7734
  • PSE&G Appliance repair: (800) 352-8666

If it's not the power company, you need to call us to come and find the problem.

Helpful Hint: If you notice lights getting brighter, then returning to normal, this indicates high voltages that could also affect and damage electronic devices like computers, TVs and more. Don't delay getting this fixed.