Power cut in Woking: what to check before you call an electrician

The lights go off and the boiler stops. A power cut in Woking is usually a fault on the local network, but it can just as easily be a tripped switch in your own consumer unit or a prepayment meter that has run out of credit. The difference decides whether you ring 105, reset a switch, top up a meter or call an electrician. This guide takes the checks in order, explains what is particular to Woking’s housing, and covers generator and candle safety while you wait.

First check: is it only your house?

Look out of the window before you do anything else. If the street lights are off and the neighbours are dark, the fault is on the network and no electrician can fix it. Call 105, which is the free national number that connects you to the Distribution Network Operator for your postcode, not your energy supplier. The supplier bills you for electricity; the network operator owns the cables and restores the supply.

The operator will give you a reference and an estimated restoration time. If a neighbour has power and you do not, the fault is somewhere between the street and your consumer unit, which is where the next checks come in. If you see a fallen cable or hear arcing from a substation, keep well away and tell 105 immediately.

Checking the consumer unit

If the power cut is yours alone, find the consumer unit, usually under the stairs or in the garage in older Woking houses and in the utility cupboard of newer flats. Open the cover and work through it:

1. Check the main switch at one end. If it is down, the whole house is off and you can switch it back up.
2. Look for an RCD in the middle of the row that has dropped. Push it firmly back up. If it will not stay up, a circuit has a fault.
3. Look along the smaller switches, the MCBs, for one sitting lower than the rest or in the middle position. Push it fully down, then up.
4. If a switch trips again straight away, leave it off. Unplug everything on that circuit and try once more. If it holds, plug appliances back in one at a time to find the culprit.

If a wire fuse has blown in an old fuse box, that points to a fault or an overload and the fuse box itself is probably due for replacement. Our guide to why RCDs trip explains the common causes in more detail.

Prepayment and smart meters

A surprising number of calls to electricians in Woking turn out to be a prepayment meter that has used up its credit and its emergency credit. The meter display will say so, often with the word OFF or a flashing warning. Top up through the supplier’s app or at a shop, then press the button the meter tells you to press to restore supply. Smart meters in prepayment mode behave the same way.

If the meter display is completely blank while the neighbours have power, the fault is in the cutout or the meter, which belongs to the network operator or the supplier. Do not touch the main fuse or the meter tails yourself. Ring 105 for a blank meter and the supplier for a credit problem.

What makes a power cut different in Woking

Woking’s housing splits into three broad groups and each fails differently. The postwar estates at Sheerwater, Maybury, Goldsworth Park and parts of Knaphill often still have 1960s to 1980s consumer units without RCD protection, so a single faulty appliance can take the whole house down rather than one circuit. The new flats around the town centre and the canal rely on communal supplies, lifts and electric door entry, so a cut affects the building as a whole and the managing agent needs to know. Older houses in Horsell and Hook Heath sit among trees, and the winter storms that the Met Office tracks on its weather warnings page bring down overhead lines there more often than in the town.

Anyone who relies on powered medical equipment, is over state pension age or has young children can join the Priority Services Register free of charge through the network operator and the supplier. In a long outage the operator contacts registered households first. Our Woking hub lists other local services, and the electrical section covers routine work.

Staying safe while the power is off

Switch off the cooker, the iron and any heaters so they do not start up unattended when the supply returns, but leave one light on. Keep the fridge and freezer closed; a full freezer holds its temperature for around 24 hours. Use torches rather than candles where you can.

Portable petrol generators belong outdoors, well away from doors and windows, because the exhaust contains carbon monoxide and a carbon monoxide alarm is the only warning you will get. Never plug a generator into a wall socket to back-feed the house. That can electrocute the engineer working on the line outside, and connecting a generator to the house wiring needs a changeover switch fitted by an electrician under Part P of the Building Regulations. Gas appliances that need electricity, including most boilers, will not run, but a gas smell is a separate emergency: leave the building and call 0800 111 999.

When to call a professional

Call an electrician when the network has power, the meter has credit and a switch still will not hold, when you smell burning or see scorching at the consumer unit, or when the house has a wired fuse box and the fuse has blown more than once. Any of those points to a wiring fault that will not fix itself. In Surrey an emergency call-out typically runs from £80 to £150 for the first hour in working hours and £120 to £250 out of hours, as an indicative range, with parts on top. Our checklist for booking an electrician in Guildford applies equally in Woking.

If a power cut has left you with a fault that needs a registered electrician, send the details to The Household Daily help desk. The team reviews each enquiry and confirms availability and credentials before anything is agreed, and nothing is booked until they confirm with you. It is not an emergency service: for a network outage call 105, for a gas smell call 0800 111 999, and for fire or danger to life call 999. Start at https://thehouseholddaily.com/request-help/.

Guidance is general and refers to the authority that sets each rule. Costs are indicative ranges; always get written quotes. Trade availability and credentials are confirmed when you enquire.