24/7 call-outs
Emergency electrician in Ponsonby, at any hour
When the power fails, a breaker keeps tripping or something smells hot, call 021 156 4005. Our electricians take emergency call-outs in Ponsonby 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and finding the fault is the first thing they do when they arrive.
Before the electrician arrives
A few minutes of checking can tell you, and us, a lot about what has gone wrong. None of these steps involves opening anything up or touching wiring.
Look up and down the street
If the neighbours' windows and the street lights are dark as well, the fault is almost certainly on the lines network rather than in your building. Vector's power outages page lets you check your address for a known outage and report one if it is not listed. If only your place is off, carry on.
Check the switchboard
Look for a circuit breaker with its lever down or its button popped out. Switch off the lights and unplug the appliances on that circuit, then reset the breaker once. If it trips again straight away, leave it off and call us. On an old fuse board, never replace a blown fuse wire with a heavier one or anything else that fits: that is how fires start.
Switch off if anything is hot or smells
A power point that is hot to touch, brown scorch marks around a plug, buzzing or a smell of hot plastic all mean stop. If you can do it safely, turn off the main switch on the switchboard. If there is smoke or flame, get everyone out and call 111.
Call 021 156 4005
Tell us what happened just before the power went, what was switched on, and whether anyone has worked on the wiring recently. It helps the electrician bring the right parts and start in the right place.
Whose fault is it: the network or the building?
Auckland's electricity reaches your property through Vector's network. Vector generally owns the lines and poles up to the point of supply, which is usually an isolating fuse on your boundary or on the nearest pole. From there the service line to your meter belongs to the property owner, and everything after the meter, the switchboard, the circuits and the fittings, is the wiring inside your building. The meter itself, and any hot water relay, are your electricity retailer's responsibility.
That split decides who to ring. A fault on the street is Vector's. A fault anywhere in your own wiring is ours to find and fix. And if Vector's crew reconnects a property after an outage and finds a safety problem in its installation, the power can stay off until that problem has been checked, which is another time an electrician is needed quickly.
Finding faults in Ponsonby's older wiring
Aucklanders got their first municipal electricity supply from a generator building the city council added in 1907 and 1908 to its rubbish destructor in Freemans Bay, just below the Ponsonby ridge. Many of Ponsonby's workers' cottages and villas were already standing by then. Every wire in those houses went in after they were built, and as they were renovated over the following century the wiring was extended and altered again and again. Behind the walls of one house there may be cable from several different eras.
That is why fault finding comes before any repair. Our electricians isolate the circuit that is misbehaving, test it section by section until the fault shows itself, and only then fix it, so the same breaker does not trip again next week. Sometimes the cause is a single failed fitting. Sometimes it shows that a circuit has reached the end of its life, and then we will tell you plainly, explain what a rewire of the affected rooms would involve, and leave the decision with you.
On Ponsonby Road the stakes are different. A bar losing its lighting or a kitchen losing a circuit on a Friday night is losing trade by the minute, and our commercial electricians take those calls at any hour, just as they do for homes.
Call-outs we attend in Ponsonby
Emergency call-out questions
My breaker trips again as soon as I reset it. What does that mean?
Something on that circuit is drawing more than it should or leaking current where it should not: a faulty appliance, damaged cable, water in a fitting or a failing connection. Unplug everything on the circuit and try once more. If it still trips with nothing plugged in, the fault is in the wiring and needs an electrician.
Can you repair my oven or cooktop?
Yes. Ovens, cooktops and waste disposals are part of our repair work, from elements and switches to the supply that feeds them.
Do you fix fridges and washing machines?
No. We do not repair fridges or washing machines; an appliance service technician is the right call for those. If the power point they plug into is the problem, that part we can fix.
Will I get a certificate after an emergency repair?
Yes, though which one depends on the repair. Swapping a damaged socket or light fitting like for like is maintenance and does not need a Certificate of Compliance, but you still receive an Electrical Safety Certificate. If the fix involves new or altered fixed wiring, it is tested and you receive a Certificate of Compliance for it as well.
Our restaurant has lost power mid-service. Can you come now?
Call 021 156 4005 straight away. Our electricians attend commercial call-outs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, the same as homes, and the sooner we know what failed, the sooner we can find it.
Power out, or a job to plan?
Call 021 156 4005 at any hour, or send us the details and an electrician will get back to you.
Other electrical services in Ponsonby
Villa and house rewiring
Rewiring for cottages, villas and bungalows whose wiring was never meant for the appliances in them today.Switchboard upgrades
Old fuse boards replaced with modern switchboards and circuit breakers, inspected where the law requires it.Lighting
LED, interior, garden and outdoor lighting for homes, shops and venues.Commercial and hospitality electrical
Electrical work for the shops, bars, restaurants and offices along Ponsonby Road.Heat pump installation
Heat pumps sized for the room and installed with their own circuit.Data and fibre cabling
Wired data points, fibre and network cabling for homes and offices.Enquiries
Contact us
Call 021 156 4005 at any hour, or tell us below what needs doing and where, and an electrician will get back to you.
021 156 4005- Auckland
- Call-outs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week