Power cut guide

Is It Just My House? Checking Your Fuse Box and Trip Switch

By UKPowerCut Editorial Team · Last reviewed 28 October 2026 · 9 min read

Quick answer: If your neighbours and the street lights still have power, the cause is usually inside your home. Open the door of your consumer unit (fuse box) and look for a switch that has flipped down; push it back up. If it trips again straight away, unplug everything and switch circuits back on one at a time to find the fault. If you have a prepayment meter, check your credit. If every switch is on, you have credit and you still have no power, call 105 free, as the fault may be in the network operator’s equipment.

Is the power off where you are? See live power cuts from the network operators and reports from neighbours.

This guide is for anyone who has lost power and suspects it might be just their home. It explains what the switches in your consumer unit do, how to reset them safely, how to track down a faulty appliance, and the point at which you should stop and call an electrician or your network operator.

Signs the problem is inside your home

A network fault usually knocks out a whole street, or a group of streets, at once. A problem in your own home tends to look different. You are probably dealing with something inside your property if:

Your neighbours’ lights are on and the street lights are working.
Only part of your home has lost power, for example the lights work but the sockets don’t, or the kitchen is dead but the upstairs is fine.
The power went off just as you switched something on, such as the kettle, the shower or the washing machine.
You heard a click from the cupboard where your consumer unit lives.
You have a prepayment meter and haven’t topped up recently.

If the whole area is dark, skip the checks below and follow our guide on checking for a power cut in your area instead.

Finding your consumer unit and what the switches do

The consumer unit (still often called the fuse box) is usually near your electricity meter: under the stairs, in a hallway cupboard, in a garage or utility room, or in a cupboard by the front door. In flats it is often in a cupboard inside the front door.

Most modern units have a hinged plastic flap over a row of switches. You may see:

Switch	What it looks like	What it does
Main switch	Usually the largest switch, often at one end, sometimes red	Turns off the electricity to every circuit in the home
RCD (residual current device)	A wider switch with a small button marked “T” or “Test”	Cuts the power to a group of circuits in a fraction of a second if it detects current leaking to earth, for example through a faulty appliance or a person
MCB (miniature circuit breaker)	A row of narrow switches, often labelled “lights”, “sockets”, “cooker” and so on	Switches off a single circuit if it is overloaded or there is a short circuit
RCBO	Looks like an MCB but may have its own test button	Combines the jobs of an RCD and an MCB for one circuit
Rewireable fuses (older units)	White or brown ceramic holders that pull out	Contain fuse wire that melts if the circuit is overloaded

A switch that has “tripped” will usually be pointing down, or sitting in a middle position, while the others point up.

Safety: Only touch the switches with dry hands, and never remove the screwed-on cover of the consumer unit. If you smell burning, see scorch marks, hear buzzing or crackling, or the unit feels hot, don’t touch it. Leave it alone and call a registered electrician, or 999 if there is smoke or fire.

How to reset a tripped switch safely

If you can see a switch pointing down, try this:

Get some light. Use a torch or your phone so you can see the labels clearly.
Switch off or unplug the obvious suspects. If the power went off as you used a particular appliance, unplug it first.
Push the tripped switch firmly back up. If it won’t stay up, push it fully down first, then back up.
Wait a few seconds. If it stays up and the power is back, you are done for now. Keep the suspect appliance unplugged.
If it trips again straight away, leave it down and work through the next section to find the cause.

Never hold a switch up to stop it tripping, and never tape it in place. It is tripping to protect you.

Finding the circuit or appliance causing the trip

If an RCD keeps tripping, the fault is usually in one appliance or one circuit. You can often find it yourself with a process of elimination.

Step 1: find the circuit

Switch off all the MCBs (the narrow switches) covered by the RCD that tripped.
Switch the RCD back on.
Switch the MCBs back on one at a time, waiting a moment after each.
When the RCD trips again, the MCB you just switched on is the circuit with the fault. Leave that one off.
Reset the RCD and switch every other MCB back on. The rest of your home should now have power.

Step 2: if it’s a socket circuit, find the appliance

Unplug everything on that circuit. Switching off at the socket isn’t always enough, so pull out the plugs.
Remember appliances that are easy to forget: the fridge, freezer, washing machine, tumble dryer and outdoor plugs. Switch off the cooker and electric shower at their own isolation switches if they are on the affected circuit.
Switch the circuit back on at the consumer unit.
Plug appliances back in, one at a time.
When the switch trips again, the last thing you plugged in is the likely culprit. Leave it unplugged, reset the switch and stop using that appliance until it has been checked or replaced.

Common culprits include kettles, toasters, washing machines, dishwashers, immersion heaters, outdoor lights and anything that has got wet. A trip after heavy rain can point to water getting into an outdoor socket or light.

Tip: Once things are working, take a photo of the labels in your consumer unit, or write labels on the inside of the flap if there are none. It makes the next fault much quicker to find.

When everything is on but there’s still no power

If none of the switches have tripped and nothing in the house works, the problem is probably before your consumer unit. There are three likely causes.

Your prepayment meter has run out

If you pay for electricity with a prepayment meter, running out of credit switches off the whole home just like a power cut. Check the meter display or your in-home display.

Most meters let you use emergency credit, a small amount set by your supplier, which you repay the next time you top up. On a smart meter you can normally activate it through the in-home display.
Many smart prepayment meters have friendly hours credit, which stops the power cutting off at set times such as overnight, at weekends and on bank holidays. You pay it back when you next top up. Your supplier’s website lists the hours that apply to you.
If you can’t afford to top up, contact your supplier. If you are in vulnerable circumstances, for example over state pension age, disabled, with a long-term health condition or with children under five, you may be able to get extra temporary credit.

Prepayment problems are dealt with by your energy supplier, not the network operator. Citizens Advice can help if you are struggling to pay.

There’s no supply reaching your home

If your RCD has a test button, press it. The button needs power to work, so if the RCD trips when you press it, electricity is reaching your consumer unit and the fault is inside your home. Reset it afterwards. If nothing happens when you press it, there is probably no supply coming in (or, less often, the RCD itself is faulty), which points to the network.

The operator’s main fuse has failed

Where the electricity cable enters your home there is a sealed box called the cut-out, which holds the main fuse. It is normally the network operator’s equipment, not yours. If it fails, your home loses power while your neighbours keep theirs.

Safety: Never open, unscrew or tamper with the cut-out, the main fuse or your meter. They carry live parts that cannot be switched off from inside your home. If you think the main fuse has gone, or you see damage, scorching or water near it, call 105.

If the operator’s fuse has failed, Ofgem’s guaranteed standards say it must attend within 3 hours on weekdays (7am to 7pm) or within 4 hours at weekends and on bank holidays (9am to 5pm). If it doesn’t, you are entitled to £40. Our guide to power cut compensation explains how these payments work.

When to stop and call an electrician or 105

Some faults are not a job for a householder. Stop and get help if any of these apply:

What you notice	Who to call
A switch keeps tripping even with every appliance unplugged	A registered electrician (likely a wiring fault)
A lighting or fixed-appliance circuit keeps tripping	A registered electrician
Burning smell, scorch marks, buzzing or a hot consumer unit	Don’t touch the unit. Call 999 if there is smoke or fire; otherwise call a registered electrician
Water has got into a light fitting, socket or the consumer unit	Keep away from the wet fitting and don’t touch a wet consumer unit. Call a registered electrician
No switches tripped, meter has credit, neighbours have power	105 (possible main fuse or service cable fault)
Damage, scorching or water at the cut-out or meter	105
Neighbours are off too	105, or check your postcode first

When choosing an electrician, look for one registered with a government-approved competent person scheme, which you can check online. In Northern Ireland, report supply problems to NIE Networks on 03457 643 643 rather than 105. You can find every number you might need on our emergency numbers page.

If you do need to report a supply fault, our guide on what happens when you call 105 tells you what to have ready.

After the power comes back

Once you have reset a switch or the operator has restored your supply, take a few minutes to check things over:

Keep any appliance that caused a trip unplugged until it has been repaired or replaced.
Check the fridge and freezer are running, and that your boiler and heating have restarted.
Reset clocks and timers on the oven, heating controls and immersion heater.
If switches start tripping more often, or at random, book an electrician to inspect your wiring.

Our checklist on what to check when the power comes back on goes through boilers, food and electronics in more detail.

Frequently asked questions

Why does my trip switch keep going off?

Usually because an appliance has developed a fault, often one with a heating element or one that has got damp. Unplug everything on that circuit and plug items back in one at a time to find it. If the switch trips with nothing plugged in, the fault is probably in the wiring and you need an electrician.

Why has only half my house lost power?

Different circuits in your home are protected by different switches. If one RCD or MCB has tripped, only the circuits it protects go off. Check your consumer unit for a switch pointing down.

Is it safe to reset a trip switch?

Yes, as long as the consumer unit isn’t damaged, hot or smelling of burning, and your hands are dry. Push the switch back up once. If it trips again immediately, don’t keep forcing it. Find the cause first.

Can I replace my main fuse myself?

No. The main fuse sits in the sealed cut-out, which belongs to the network operator and carries live parts that can’t be isolated from inside your home. Call 105 and the operator will send an engineer.

My prepayment meter has credit but there’s no power. What now?

Check your trip switches, then look outside to see if your neighbours have power. If they do, call your supplier about the meter. If they don’t, it’s a power cut, so report it on 105 or check your postcode for live updates.

If you have worked through these checks and still have no power, it is time to call in help. Our complete guide to what to do in a power cut covers keeping safe, warm and fed while you wait for it to be fixed.

Sources

Checked against these sources on 28 October 2026. Rules and amounts can change – your network operator or Ofgem has the final word. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.

More on during a power cut: What to Do in a Power Cut: The Complete UK Guide · All power cut guides