Emergency electrician in Alicante and the northern Costa Blanca

An electrical emergency is any fault that is unsafe to leave: a burning smell, scorch marks, sparking, water reaching electrical equipment, or a total loss of power you cannot restore. Those we attend at any hour, including nights and weekends.

Plenty of electrical problems are not emergencies, and paying out-of-hours rates for them is money wasted. This page is written to help you tell the difference before you call, because being told honestly that something can wait until morning is worth more than a fast quote.

What counts as a real electrical emergency?

A real electrical emergency is one where leaving the fault alone risks fire, electric shock or serious damage. Five situations qualify: a burning or fishy smell coming from a socket, switch or the consumer unit; visible scorching, melting or smoke; sparking or arcing you can hear or see; water reaching a consumer unit, socket or light fitting; and a complete loss of power that the main switch will not restore.

If you can smell burning or see smoke, treat it as a fire before you treat it as an electrical problem. Leave the property and call 112. Do not wait for an electrician to arrive to make that decision for you.

A circuit that keeps tripping the moment you reset it also belongs in this group, because the protective device is telling you there is a live fault it is actively containing. Repeatedly forcing it back on removes the only thing standing between the fault and you.

What can safely wait until the morning?

Most electrical faults can safely wait, and saying so plainly is part of the job. A single socket that has stopped working, one light fitting that has failed, a dimmer that buzzes, an extractor fan that no longer runs, an outside light that stopped after heavy rain — none of these needs a night call-out if the rest of the installation is behaving normally and nothing smells or looks burnt.

One tripped circuit that resets cleanly and then stays on is usually a one-off caused by a failing appliance. Unplug things on that circuit one at a time and you will often find the culprit yourself. Book us for the next working day and pay a normal rate.

The dividing line is not how inconvenient the fault is. It is whether the installation is currently unsafe. A whole floor without light is inconvenient; a socket that smells of burning is dangerous, even though it is affecting only one outlet.

What should you do before we arrive?

Three things help, and all of them are safe to do from outside the consumer unit. First, note which switches in the unit have moved — you can read the front of the board without opening anything or removing any cover. Second, unplug appliances on the affected circuit, especially anything that was running when the fault appeared. Third, if there is any smell of burning, leave the property and call 112 rather than investigating.

Do not remove the cover plate of a consumer unit, and do not attempt to work on any wiring. The hinged door on the front is designed to be opened by anyone; the panel behind it is not, and there are live terminals behind it even when every switch is off.

If water is involved — a leak above a light fitting, a flooded plant room, a soaked outdoor socket — keep away from it entirely and tell us when you call. Wet faults change how we approach the job and what we bring.

How is an emergency call-out priced?

An emergency bill has three parts: the call-out itself, the labour once we are there, and any materials. We tell you the call-out charge before we set off, so you can decide whether to go ahead knowing what the visit costs even if the fault turns out to be trivial.

That is deliberately different from the usual arrangement, where the first figure you hear is on the invoice. If you would rather wait until the morning once you know the number, that is a legitimate answer and we will say so if the fault is one that can safely wait.

Labour and materials depend on what we find. Where a part is needed that we do not carry, we make the installation safe, explain exactly what is isolated and why, and come back with the part rather than leaving the job half-finished with no explanation.

Which towns do you reach, and how quickly?

We cover Alicante, Elche, San Vicente del Raspeig, Playa de San Juan, Sant Joan d'Alacant, El Campello and Villajoyosa. Typical arrival is 60 to 90 minutes from the call being accepted.

That window is honest rather than flattering. Elche and Villajoyosa sit at opposite ends of the area, roughly 45 km apart, and a 3 a.m. run across an empty motorway is not the same as the same trip in August traffic. We tell you the realistic time when you call, not a number chosen to win the call.

If we cannot get to you in a time that is safe for the fault you describe, we say so rather than accepting the job and leaving you waiting. For anything involving fire, smoke or a burning smell, the correct first call is 112, not an electrician.