No power to half the house? Here's what to do
Some rooms dead, others fine. Usually one circuit, sometimes the supply. Here's how to tell, and when to stop resetting and call.
Every price on the website is a quote, not a fixed charge. It assumes a standard single-storey home with the switchboard within reach. When your request comes through, Luke looks it over and sends you a quote to confirm. Once the job is done, that quote becomes your invoice.
Before you book anyone
- 1Look at the switchboard. A breaker or safety switch pointing the other way to the rest: push it up once. If it holds, you're done.
- 2Board looks fine and the neighbours are out too: that's the network. Ring SA Power Networks on 13 13 66, not us.
- 3Lights bright in one room and dim in another, or things humming: switch off the main switch and call us. That's a neutral fault, and it damages appliances.
- 4Burning smell or scorch marks at the board: main switch off, call us the same day.
- 5If a reset holds and then drops again, stop resetting it. Something is drawing a fault and it needs finding.
- 6Outside weekday hours, for a burning smell or sparks, turn the main switch off and call SA Power Networks on 13 13 66.
What it usually is
- A tripped breaker on one circuit. Lights and power are on separate circuits, so half the house is one circuit's worth.
- A breaker that says on but is dead inside. Old ones fail silently.
- A loose neutral at the board or the meter. Dim and bright lights at the same time is the sign, and it's dangerous.
- A lost phase on a three-phase supply. One phase's rooms go dark, the rest carry on.
- A burnt-out join in a junction box in the roof, often from an old renovation.
- The service fuse at the meter. Only the network can replace that one, and we ring them for you.
What we charge
Every visit has one $165 call-out, covering the trip and the first 30 minutes. It's already inside the first price you see. Anything else on the same visit shares the call-out, so extra jobs are usually cheaper. Appliances and fans are a flat price each. Whatever it turns out to be is quoted before we go further.Prices are quotes, confirmed by Luke by text. How pricing works ›
How it works
Three steps, no phone tag.Name, mobile, address, a photo if you have one. Luke texts you back, usually the same working day.
He looks over what you've sent, confirms the price and you pick the day. Nothing changes after that unless we tell you first.
Found, fixed, tested, and you've agreed the price before we do it.
Questions people text us
Answered the way Luke answers them.Something keeps tripping the safety switch. Can you find out why?
Yes. A fault call-out covers the first 30 minutes, which is usually enough to find the circuit at fault. We tell you what we found and what fixing it costs before we go further.
What time will you actually arrive? Can I get a tighter window than two hours?
Every booking has a two-hour arrival window, confirmed by text the day before. On the day we text when we’re on the way, so you’ll know within about 20 minutes. If you have a hard deadline, school pick-up or an appointment, tell us when you book and we put you first or last in the day.
Can you text or call me before you arrive?
Yes. Every job gets an on-our-way text as we leave the previous one. If you need more notice, say so in the booking notes and we call instead.
Do you charge a call-out fee and what does it cover?
A fault call-out covers the first 30 minutes on site and the diagnosis. If it’s fixable in that time there’s nothing more to pay. For installs and quoted jobs the call-out is already inside the first price you see, it’s never added on top.
What people say
Straight from Google. Nothing picked, nothing typed.“I was impressed with the service from Switch Electrical. The communication and workmanship was great. I will definitely be using them again and would recommend them to anyone. Thanks Luke and Michael!”
“I've used Switch Electrical a few times over the past 2 years, installing a new oven, more power points, 2 hard wired smoke detectors and 13 downlights. I found them to be reliable, polite and a very fair reasonable price.”
“Recent oven replacement by Luke. Nice and quick. Professional and courteous. Luke also did a quick fix on an LED light at no cost. Great work. Very happy customer.”
If it turns into a bigger job
Prices are quotes, confirmed by Luke by text. How pricing works ›