Emergency Electrician: $150 to $200 an Hour, Do This First

Call 911, the utility or an electrician: what to do first

The right first call depends on what you see. Work down this list before you look for an electrician.

• Fire, smoke, sparks or a burning smell. Get everyone out and call 911 from outside. Do not stay to open the panel or look for the source.
• A downed power line. Stay well away from it and from anything it touches, and call the electric utility. In Oncor's Texas territory, for example, the utility owns the pole, the transformer and the service line to the house.
• Water near outlets or the panel. Shut off power at the breaker only if you can reach the panel from a dry spot. If you would have to stand in water, stay out and call the utility.
• A gas smell. Leave the house and call the gas utility from outside.
• The whole street is dark. That is an outage. Report it to the utility; an electrician cannot restore it.
• Only part of the house is out. Check the panel first. National Grid's advice is that if the breakers and fuses look fine, one or more service wires to the house may be damaged, and the utility should be called.

How much does a 24 hour electrician cost

Companies that take emergency calls price them as a higher hourly rate, a multiplier on the daytime rate, or a flat surcharge. These are the published figures:

Angi gives both a flat surcharge and a doubled rate without saying which applies when. Ask the company which one it uses before it sends anyone.

The after-hours premium adds a lot to a short job, so it pays to know what counts as an emergency and what can wait.

What counts as an electrical emergency

Call tonight for any of these. ESFI lists the first five as signs to contact a qualified electrician immediately; the last comes from Lee Company:

• Discoloration on an outlet, a switch or a wall plate.
• An outlet or switch that is warm to the touch.
• Sizzling, buzzing or crackling from outlets or the panel.
• A mild shock or tingle from a switch or an appliance.
• A breaker that trips again and again.
• About half the house dead while the panel looks normal, or lights that dim or flash when a big appliance starts.

Electrical emergencies are common. In Angi's customer data, 36.4% of switch, outlet and fixture jobs are emergencies. Angi puts repair of a sparking outlet at $100 to $350, and an outlet with burn marks or a burning smell at $120 to $400.

What can usually wait for daytime rates

If nothing is hot, smoking or buzzing and the rest of the house works, a daytime visit is cheaper and normally safe to wait for:

• A single dead outlet. Look for a tripped GFCI outlet nearby and press its reset button, then check the panel. The breaker keeps tripping page has the full checklist.
• A breaker that tripped once, reset, and has stayed on. Overload is the most common cause; move a high-wattage appliance to another circuit.
• A switch or light fixture that stopped working with no heat, smell or sound.
• Planned work: a panel upgrade, an EV charger or new outlets.

If you are not sure which list you are on, call and describe what you see, hear and smell. Turn off the breaker for that circuit in the meantime if you can do it from a dry spot.

Half the house without power

Most homes get power on two legs. Lee Company, a home services contractor, explains that losing one leg on the street leaves about half the house dead: the oven will not heat and the central air will not start. Lights that dim or flash when big appliances switch on can mean a loose neutral, which it calls not a DIY fix. Its order of calls: the utility first if neighbors are affected, an electrician if you smell burning, see scorching or hear buzzing.

If lights stay dim for a long time, FPL advises turning off major appliances and calling the utility. When the utility's side checks out and the damage is to the meter base, conduit or weatherhead on your house, Oncor says those parts belong to the homeowner, and a private electrician has to repair them before power is restored.

Why electrical problems are treated as urgent

Citing NFPA data, ESFI reports an average of 31,647 home fires a year from 2011 through 2023 caused by electrical distribution or lighting equipment, with about 425 deaths, 1,279 injuries and $1.6 billion in direct property loss. ESFI also cites CPSC data showing receptacles alone are involved in about 5,300 fires a year. That is why ESFI's advice for the warning signs above is to contact a qualified electrician immediately.

Emergency electrician near me: what to ask on the phone

1. What is your after-hours rate, and at what time does it start?
2. Is there a trip charge, and does it count toward labor?
3. Is there a minimum, such as one or two hours?
4. Can you make it safe tonight and do the full repair at daytime rates?
5. What is your license number? The electrical repair guide has the licensing rules for Texas, Florida, Arizona, California, Nevada and Colorado.

Companies that take emergency calls set their own hours, and those hours vary. Calls to the line go to an independent company that serves your area and takes this kind of job; how calls work explains the rest.

If storm outages keep sending you to this page, backup power may be the longer fix: see generator installation, or generator repair if the one you have did not start.