Seven signs your electrics need attention

Wiring rarely fails out of nowhere. Most of the serious jobs we get called to had been giving off small warnings for months, and nobody knew what they meant. Here are the seven we see most, what each one is telling you, and what to do about it. None of this is meant to frighten you. Some of these signs are minor. But every one of them is worth a look, because the cheap version of the problem and the expensive version usually start out looking the same.

1. An old fuse box with no test button

Open the cupboard and look at your fuse box. A modern consumer unit has a row of switches and at least one button marked test. If yours has ceramic or bakelite fuse holders, or fuses with visible wire in them that you rewire by hand when they blow, it is from another era. It may still work, but it has none of the protection a modern board gives you, including the fast trip that protects people, not just cables, when something goes wrong.

What to do: nothing urgent if everything else is fine, but get it assessed. Send us a photo of the board and we can usually tell you where you stand. A consumer unit change starts from £550, and certification on notifiable work is handled through a registered contractor we work with, and the paperwork comes to you. There is more detail in our guide to consumer units.

2. Sockets or switches warm to the touch or scorched

A socket or switch should never feel warm. Warmth means resistance, and resistance usually means a loose connection somewhere behind the faceplate, which arcs and heats up every time you use it. Brown or black marks around the pin holes mean it has already been arcing. That is how socket fires start, slowly and quietly, inside the wall.

What to do: stop using that socket, unplug whatever is in it, and get it looked at. Do not take the faceplate off to have a look yourself. It is a small job for us to open it up safely and find out whether it is one loose terminal or a sign of something wider.

3. Flickering that is not the bulb

Change the bulb first. If the flicker moves with the bulb, that was your problem and it cost you a bulb. If the new bulb flickers too, or several lights flicker at once, or the lights dip every time the kettle or the shower kicks in, the bulb was never the issue. That pattern points at a loose connection, a tired switch, or a circuit carrying more than it should.

What to do: note when it happens and which lights do it, because that detail shortens the job. Fault finding runs £80 to £180 and we find the cause rather than guess at it.

4. A burning or fishy smell

Overheating plastic gives off a smell like burnt fish. If you can smell burning or fish and cannot find an obvious cause, take it seriously, because something electrical is likely cooking behind a socket, a switch or the fuse box itself.

What to do, in this order: if there is smoke, sparks or a burning smell, ring 999 first. Then switch off at the consumer unit if it is safe to reach. Then ring us. Do not open windows and carry on with your evening. The smell is the warning you get before the flames, and it does not always give you a second one.

5. Breakers tripping repeatedly

A breaker that trips once has done its job. Something drew too much or leaked where it should not, and the board cut the power. Resetting it is fine. A breaker that trips again and again is a different story. That is the board telling you the same fault is still there, and every reset is asking it to catch the same problem one more time.

What to do: notice what was running when it went. If unplugging one appliance stops the tripping, you have probably found a faulty appliance. If the trips carry on with everything unplugged, or the breaker will not reset at all, stop resetting and call us. Fault finding is £80 to £180, and it is a lot cheaper than the damage a persistent fault does over time. Our price guide has the full breakdown of how we charge.

6. Extension leads doing the job of sockets that should exist

A four way behind the telly, another one behind the bed, a lead running under the carpet to reach the far side of the room. None of that is a fault, but it is a sign the house has fewer sockets than the life being lived in it, and extension leads are the weakest link in any setup. Leads that are coiled, covered or daisy chained into each other can overheat, and the plug tops take a hammering they were never designed for.

What to do: count what is plugged into each lead and be honest about it. Adding a proper socket where you actually need one is £90 to £150, and it removes the problem rather than managing it.

7. Cable and fittings that look tired in an older house

Houses from the 1930s and earlier were often wired in rubber insulated cable, and rubber perishes. After enough decades it goes hard and crumbles the moment anyone disturbs it, leaving bare conductors inside your walls and ceilings. Fabric covered flex on old pendants, round pin sockets, and wooden boards behind the fuse box all point the same way. Even later wiring can fail early where it has been chewed, overheated or bodged by a previous owner.

What to do: do not poke at it, and be careful in lofts and under floors where old cable is easiest to disturb. Get it inspected. Sometimes the answer is a partial fix. Sometimes it is a rewire. Either way you want the honest answer from someone who has seen it, not a guess from someone who has not.

Seen one of these at home?

One sign on its own is worth a phone call. Two or more, especially in an older house, and it is time to get someone in. Send us a photo or a description through the quote form and we will tell you straight whether it is a small job, a bigger one, or nothing to worry about.