Has your electricity stopped working in one room? First, check if other rooms are affected. Check your switchboard for a tripped circuit breaker. The circuit breaker will be in the down position. To reset the breaker press the button back up.
If the breaker trips again, then it’s likely that other issues are causing this problem.
I will share six possible reasons why your electricity stopped working in one room and how you can do some basic fault finding to find the cause of the problem yourself before calling an electrician.
Why Electricity Stopped Working In One Room
Firstly, it’s important to cover why electricity stopped working in one room.
When electricity goes out suddenly in one area, such as a room, it is most likely caused by circuit breakers disconnecting the electricity supply in your switchboard. While you can simply go to your switchboard and reset the breaker it is a good idea to know why it tripped in the first place.
You see, the reason circuit breakers trip is for safety.
Circuit breakers trip to prevent electric shocks to people and fire hazards to property. So when the power goes out, there’s definitely a good reason for it.
To find out why this happened, first try to recall what was turned on or operating when the power went out as this will give you some clues.
Here are six potential reasons why electricity stopped working in one room.
Electricity Stopped Working In One Room – Reason #1
Faulty Appliances
Faulty appliances are a common reason why circuit breakers can trip. When an appliance starts getting older, its electrical integrity can start to fail as it experiences more wear and tear. Eventually, this leads to a fault, or even a short circuit within the appliance itself.
When this happens, the circuit breaker will trigger disconnecting the electricity. This is to prevent an electric shock to someone using the appliance.
The first thing you should do is
- Go to the room with no electricity.
- Check if any appliances are plugged in.
- If something is plugged in, unplug it.
This includes extension leads because bad extension cords can trip breakers.
Next, inspect the appliance. If the appliance has a weird burnt smell or looks damaged in any way don’t plug it back in as it is likely the cause of the fault.
Check your switchboard and reset the breaker, if the appliance was the cause of the fault then it shouldn’t trip again and you won’t need to call the electrician.
Electricity Stopped Working In One Room – Reason #2
Appliances Overloading Circuit
Perfectly normal, non-faulty appliances can also trip circuit breakers. This happens if you have too many plugged into the same circuit.
For example, if you have heaters, vacuum cleaners, hair dryers, toasters and other high power consumption appliances running at the same time then the circuit breaker can trip to prevent a fire.
When a circuit is overloaded, the cables heat up and continue to heat up until the insulation and surrounding wall catches on fire.
If you suspect an overload because a lot of appliances are plugged in, then unplug the appliances and reset the circuit breaker. This should resolve the problem.
Electricity Stopped Working In One Room – Reason #3
Faulty Lights
If appliances aren’t the cause of the problem, then it could be the lights in the room. When a bulb blows it is actually a short circuit.
And as mentioned earlier, circuit breakers are designed to protect against short circuits so they will trip when that happens.
The good news is that if you have a blown bulb you can replace it. To do this, take the bulb out and bring it to your local hardware store so you can get a correct replacement.
Reset the circuit breaker without the bulb, if it doesn’t trip again then it is likely that the blown bulb caused it.
If the light doesn’t have a replaceable bulb, then check for signs of discolouration, soot or melted plastic in the light fitting. This is evidence that the light has burnt out and failed and caused the breaker to trip.
If you suspect a burnt out light fitting, then you can order a replacement before calling an electrician to save yourself money.
Electricity Stopped Working In One Room – Reason #4
Faulty Outlets
The next thing that might have caused electricity to stop working in one room is faulty power outlets. Faulty power outlets can be caused by many things. If the power outlets look visually damaged or worn out in any way (without unscrewing the outlet) then that could be the cause of the problem. If you suspect a faulty outlet, you can direct the electrician to the issue and hopefully fix the fault faster than otherwise.
Electricity Stopped Working In One Room – Reason #5
Faulty Light Switch
Another potential cause of the tripped breaker is a faulty light switch. Again, light switches can become faulty over time due to wear and tear and do all kinds of weird things. If you can see any visual damage or wear and tear to light switches in the room with no electricity, then that could be the cause of the problem. A short circuit in the light switch could have caused the breaker to trip. Here’s a post on problems with light switches.
Electricity Stopped Working In One Room – Reason #6
Damaged Wires In The Circuit
Finally, damaged wires might be the reason why electricity stopped working in one room. Damaged wires can be caused by poor installation, heat, sharp objects and rodents in the ceiling and wall cavity. The electrician will be able to identify if there are damaged cables with an insulation resistance tester. Once this is identified as the cause, they can then repair the cables.
Conclusion
Hopefully, this has given you some ideas why electricity stopped working in one room. You can use this information to do some basic fault finding. If you found the cause of the fault without needing to call an electrician, well done. If the problem looks beyond your scope, then it is wise to get in touch with an experienced, registered electrician to fix it for you. As you are dealing with dangerous current, it is important to seek the correct advice.
Next Steps
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