At eleven at night, with no power and your phone as a torch, everything feels like an electrical emergency. Some genuinely are and cannot wait an hour. Others can quite safely be left until morning with two precautions, and there is no sense paying out-of-hours rates for them.
This guide is for deciding, in two minutes, which of the two you are in. It runs in order of seriousness: first what requires calling 112, then what requires an electrician now, then what can wait, and finally what probably is not electrical at all.
Call 112 before anyone else if...
In some situations the problem is no longer the installation, it is the people. In these, 112 comes first and the electrician second:
- Someone has had a shock. Even if they seem fine. A shock can leave effects you cannot see, particularly on the heart.
- There is smoke or flame at a socket, an appliance or the board. Leave the property and do not use water: on an electrical fire water conducts and makes things worse.
- Water is reaching the installation with people inside the property.
- There is a strong burning smell and you cannot find the source. Switch off the main breaker and get air in.
And the most important point about shocks: do not touch the person while they are still in contact with the current, because it would reach you too. Cut the power at the main breaker if you can get to it safely, or separate them with something dry and insulating. Then call 112.
A real emergency: this needs dealing with now
Nobody is hurt, but these do not make it to morning:
1. A burning smell, or the board is warm
This is the most serious warning an installation gives before a fire. Switch that circuit off and do not reconnect it "to test". We cover it fully in a burning smell from a socket or board.
2. Sparks, cracking, or a new buzz from the board
The board is where the property's entire load passes through. Any noise or spark there is a priority, not a detail.
3. You feel a tingle touching taps or appliances
It means there is voltage where there should not be, and it usually points to an earthing problem. Stop using that part of the house.
4. The main breaker will not stay on
If the whole property is dead, the neighbours have power and the main switch will not stay up, there is a fault the protection is containing. Forcing it up repeatedly overrides the warning.
5. Water and wiring in the same place
A leak above the board, a flood, or damp getting into junction boxes. Isolate the area before touching anything, and see what to check after flooding.
6. An accessible exposed cable
Particularly with children or pets around. Do not wrap it in tape: isolate the circuit and have it done properly.
This can wait until morning (with precautions)
These are a nuisance, but they do not justify a night call-out provided you take the stated precaution:
- One circuit dead and the rest of the house fine: leave that MCB off and carry on. The cause gets found tomorrow.
- The RCD only trips when you use one particular appliance: unplug it, reset the RCD and do not use it. You have already identified the culprit, which is half the job. More causes in why your RCD keeps tripping.
- A socket with no power that is not warm or marked: an ordinary repair.
- A light or fitting that will not come on: try another lamp before assuming it is the installation.
- The RCD tripped once, reset, and has not tripped since: note when it happened and what was switched on. If it does not recur it is not urgent; if it does, it is.
One important precaution: if you are going to wait until morning, do not leave the RCD off. Switch off the MCB for the problem circuit and put the RCD back on, so the rest of the property stays protected. If you are not sure which is which, we set it out in what each switch in your consumer unit does.
It is probably not your installation
Before calling anyone, rule out the obvious. If the neighbours are also without power, it is a network outage and there is nothing to fix in your home: we have a guide on what to do in a power cut. If only one appliance fails and the circuit is fine, the appliance is the problem. And if you have lost supply without anything tripping, it is worth checking the contract before the wiring.
What to do while the electrician is on the way
- Isolate the affected area at the board rather than leaving the whole house dark.
- Do not reset the protection more than once. If it trips again, it is doing its job.
- Use torches, not candles. Adding fire to an electrical problem has never improved anything.
- Unplug the sensitive things: television, computer, router. When power returns it can come back with a voltage spike.
- Keep the freezer shut. It holds for many hours if left closed.
- Write down exactly what happened: what you were using, whether there was noise or a smell, what tripped. It is the first thing we will ask and it speeds up the diagnosis.
How this plays out in Málaga
Our call-out peaks are fairly predictable. In July and August the air conditioning runs for hours and houses are full, so marginal installations announce themselves exactly when there are most people inside. In autumn the first storms arrive, bringing voltage spikes and damaged equipment, which is what surge protection exists to prevent.
And there is a very local factor: the holiday let. The guest does not know where the board is, does not know the property, and calls the owner, who is often in another country. If that is your situation, a labelled board and a note on what to do if the power trips will save you half of those night-time calls.
The same applies at weekends and on public holidays, when many services are closed. That is exactly when knowing what can wait and what cannot is worth most, which is what this article is for.
Practical recommendations
Find your board and main switch today. In the dark and in a hurry is the worst moment to discover where they are.
Label the circuits. Ten minutes of work that turns an emergency into a contained problem, because you can isolate only what is failing.
Save the number of a registered electrician before you need one. Eleven at night is when people choose worst. And if you are not sure how to check they are registered, we explain it in how to check an electrician is registered.
Photograph the open board. Being able to show it over the phone saves time and sometimes avoids the visit altogether.
Frequently asked questions
When should I call 112 rather than an electrician?
Whenever people or fire are involved: someone has had a shock, there is smoke or flame, or water is reaching the installation with people inside. In those cases 112 first and the electrician afterwards. An electrician fixes the installation; the emergency services look after people. They are not alternatives, it is an order of priority.
What do I do if someone has had an electric shock?
Do not touch them while they are still in contact with the current, because the shock would pass to you as well. Switch off the power at the main breaker if you can reach it safely, or separate the person using something dry and insulating. Call 112 immediately, even if they seem fine: a shock can leave effects you cannot see, particularly on the heart. And do not re-energise that circuit until an electrician has checked it.
Can I leave the RCD switched off until morning?
It is better not to leave the whole house unprotected. If you have identified the circuit causing the problem, switch off that circuit's MCB and put the RCD back on: the rest of the property stays protected and you only lose the affected area. Leaving the RCD off all night means nothing in the house is protected if another fault appears.
Does an emergency call-out cost more at night or on a public holiday?
Yes, as in any trade offering out-of-hours cover, and it is worth knowing before you call rather than after. What you can require of anyone is that they tell you what they will do and what it costs before starting. We say so on the phone as soon as we understand the problem, and if the fault can safely wait until morning we tell you that too.
What if I cannot find the consumer unit?
It is usually in the entrance, the hallway or inside a fitted cupboard, and in older flats it is sometimes high up behind a small door. If you are in a property that is not yours, such as a holiday let, ask the owner. And take the chance to find it now while nothing is wrong: hunting for the board in the dark with a phone is the worst possible way to get to know a property.
Is it happening right now?
At VLR Instalaciones we have over 20 years of experience as electricians authorised by the Junta de Andalucía and we cover electrical emergencies across the whole province of Málaga. Call us, tell us what has happened, and we will tell you on the phone whether someone needs to come now or whether it can safely wait, along with what it will cost before we start. We locate the fault, carry out the repair, and explain why it happened, which is what stops it recurring.
Reviewed by VLR Instalaciones, electrician authorised by the Junta de Andalucía.
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