Step 1: Is it just your house?
Look outside. If the street lights are off and your neighbours' houses are dark, it's a network outage — your lines company is already onto it. Check their outage page (Vector, Wellington Electricity, Orion, etc.) for an ETA. An electrician can't help you faster than the lines company can.
If everyone else has power and you don't, it's something on your side of the meter. Continue to step 2.
Step 2: Check the main switch and RCDs
Open the switchboard. Look for:
- The main switch at the top — should be in the ON / up position
- RCDs (residual current devices) — usually 30mA safety switches that trip when they detect a leak to earth
- MCBs (miniature circuit breakers) — individual circuit breakers for lighting, power, oven, hot water, etc.
If something has tripped, flip it back on. If it trips again immediately, leave it off — there's a fault on that circuit and you need an electrician.
Step 3: Isolate the faulty appliance
If an RCD keeps tripping, unplug everything on the affected circuits and try resetting again. Plug appliances back in one at a time until you find the one that trips it. A kettle, heater, washing machine or fridge near end-of-life is the usual culprit.
When to call an emergency electrician
- Burning smell from the switchboard or any wall socket
- Sparks visible at any outlet, switch, or fitting
- The main switch trips even with every MCB off
- Water has entered the switchboard, ceiling cavity, or wall cavity near wiring
- You can hear arcing or buzzing from the meter board
For any of those, call an EWRB-registered emergency electrician immediately and don't try to reset anything yourself. Prescribed electrical work in NZ must be done by a registered worker — DIY attempts void insurance and can be fatal.