My bathroom and outside outlets do not work.
Look for the GFCI outlet. It may be in the garage, utility room, bath room, in or near the electrical panel. When you find it, press the reset button.
Half of my lights and outlets do not work and my larger appliances are acting weird.
Your power company may be having problems. Sometimes a ‘phase’ is lost to a whole neighborhood or just one house. Try calling your power company.
Every time I plug in a particular item, the breaker trips.
Your device may be faulty or you may be overloading the circuit. Do not plug it in anymore.
My recess light blinks on and off sometimes.
Your bulb may be too high in wattage. The thermal protector is shutting it off so it will not overheat. Try a lower wattage bulb. This is common in shower fixtures; they usually can only handle a 40-watt bulb.
My power is off in some areas of the home.
You may have overloaded a circuit. Unplug some things on affected circuit first. Then look for a tripped breaker in your electrical panel. It is hard in some panels to notice, which one is tripped. Most brands trip into a middle position, they must be turned completely off and back on.
What kind of light bulb should I use?
Lighting technology has advanced greatly in the last decade. This would have been a complicated question years ago because most energy efficient bulbs did not dim with a dimmer switch.
The answer is almost always LED now. A few exceptions would be special uses like appliances, high heat areas, or special fixtures designed for a particular lamp.
Do dimmer switches save electricity?
Yes, if its a dimmer from the last 20 years or so. This is mostly true with the standard incandescent bulbs, and the energy savings is proportional to the amount of dimming. With CFL’s, you generally cannot dim at all (its unsafe). LED bulbs that are marked “dimmable” are so energy efficient anyways that it is doubtful you will notice any savings with a dimmer. But the ambiance will be nice!
Are some breaker panels considered dangerous?
Yes, electrical safety has advanced greatly! Some panels from the past are missing safety features such as main breakers or grounding. Some brands have had their UL listing revoked for safety reasons. A famous brand from the 1960’s to the early 1980’s is known for causing a lot of home fires! Many times, the panel is okay but a handyman or previous homeowner has made modifications which defeat the safety features. When in doubt, have us check it out.
You should only hire licensed electricians and plumbers. Hiring a ‘handyman’ could be a disastrous mistake! Often times it “looks good” until you take a cover plate off. Open splices, wrong wiring, no junction boxes, no grounding, overloaded circuits are all things that can be hidden behind your walls or in your attic or crawl space.