Power Outages - What to do when the power goes out!

Our Denver residential electricians tell you what to do when the power goes out.

When you have a power outage in part of your house, do you know what to do? Here are some tips that might save you a service call:

Check for tripped breakers in your breaker box.

A tripped breaker can usually be identified by lightly touching the handles. A handle that moves easily and seems to be halfway between “On” and “Off” might be tripped. Firmly push the handle into the “Off” position. After waiting 10 to 15 seconds, firmly push the handle to the “On” position. If it stays “On” check to see if power was restored to the affected areas. If the breaker trips again, call us at 303-892-0027 to schedule one of Electri-Serve’s experienced electricians to troubleshoot the problem.

If the breaker stays on, but the partial outage persists, check for tripped GFCI or AFCI receptacles. These types of receptacles have two small buttons between the places you plug in. If one of those buttons is popped out, unplug any cords and push the button back in.

TIP: When resetting the receptacle, the buttons need to be pushed firmly and should recess a bit behind the face of the receptacle. If the button pops back out again, or power isn’t restored to the affected areas, it could mean there is a problem with that receptacle or someplace else on the circuit. At this point, a licensed electrician should be called to locate, isolate, and repair the problem. Get more information about AFCI and GFCI receptacles on our website.

The problem could be a neighborhood or area outage.

If the power company “drops a leg,” in electrician talk, it can result in everyone on that part of the grid losing part of the power to their home or business. Xcel Energy customers can visit the power outage map or call 1-800-855-1999 to get info about an outage in their area.

Sometimes, the overhead power lines to your house can become loose resulting in partial power loss. High winds, heavy snows, and tree branches on the line are the most common reasons for those connections becoming loose. If this happens in the Denver area, you would need to call Xcel Energy to make the repair. The overhead power lines from the power pole to your house are the power company’s property and responsibility. No private contractor is authorized to work on those lines.