No Sockets Working But Lights Are

1) Only lights are working what has happened?

If you have NO SOCKETS WORKING BUT LIGHTS ARE then it is likely that you have an electrical problem that is affecting the ‘POWER’ circuits rather than the lighting circuits. 

In fuse boards / consumer units (the box with switches in that controls your electrics) that were installed during the 90s and 2000s it was common to have a device that provides electric shock protection. This device was installed to monitor and control the power to the sockets, cooker, electric shower and other power-hungry circuits but not the lighting circuits. When this device senses a problem in the electrical installation then it will trip the power off and kill the supply to lots of circuits at once. 

2) What kind of electrical problem do I have?

The device that normally trips and stops power to these circuits is often labelled as RCD, RCB, RCCB. If you go and examine the electrical box in your home with all the trip switches inside you will see that one of the trip switches is down. If there are no trip switches down then you must call an electrician to come and investigate for you. If something HAS TRIPPED then there may be some useful information on this website to help you. 
The link below will take you to our help sheet which gives useful information on what to do when your electrics are tripping. 

https://www.electricalfaultsfixed.co.uk/helpsheet/help-my-house-electrics-are-tripping

3) Nothing has tripped what do I do?

If you are absolutely sure that nothing has tripped in your electrical box then please double check. If there are no switches down then it is likely to be a much more serious problem. If you are in the North West of the UK then we can likely attend to investigate for you but in any event, we may be able to help over the phone if needed. Try and find an emergency electrician in your area if you have a problem where nothing has tripped. 

4) What is an RCD?

An RCD is a Residual Current Device. There you go I bet you are glad you asked? 

Ok. So, these devices protect us against electric shock in our homes. They are very clever and also very dumb at the same time. 

An RCD monitors the electrical current flowing in a circuit. When some current is missing from the circuit it immediately trips and turns the power off to the circuit or group of circuits that it is protecting. It makes the assumption that the missing current is flowing through a human body and that it needs to turn off to prevent death. It cannot tell the difference between missing current flowing through a human and a faulty appliance for example. 

They are however, incredibly useful devices that save lives and prevent fires to an extent. They have various different names such as RCD, RCB, RCCB, RCBO and in North America GFCI. These devices all perform much the same function. If you do not have one of these devices in your home then it is definitely time for a consumer unit upgrade.

5) There is a funny smell from the electric box

If there is a funny smell coming from the electric box and you have NO SOCKETS WORKING BUT LIGHTS ARE then it is entirely possible that your RCD device has failed and possibly even burnt out. It is vital that an electrician is called immediately and you MUST turn all your power off NOW. Electrical burning and fires are a serious matter and if you can smell a fishy type burning smell then it needs investigating without delay. 

As an emergency electrician we carry many spare parts for consumer units and even NEW consumer units ready to replace, if necessary, in an emergency. 

6) What happens if my consumer unit / electric box is damaged?

We are often able to repair or replace components in your box if they are available. Sometimes a consumer unit / fuse box is that old that no spare parts are available and we have to rely on any spares that we have on board or in storage. If there are no spares available or if the electric box / consumer unit is badly damaged then it may be necessary to replace the entire unit. 

If you have called us out to your home to look at the electrical problems then we will always talk you through what we are doing and what the options are. We will explain everything as clearly as possible and tell you what needs to be done to put it right. 

Just contact us here.