Straight answers from a 45-year master electrician.

Check your main breaker and panel first. If nothing is tripped, the problem may be your service wires, meter socket, or a burned connection. Call an electrician.

In older homes we often find a burned-out main breaker or panel, or a failing meter socket, behind this kind of outage. Don't keep flipping the main on and off. If you smell burning near the panel or meter, stay away from it and call right away.

Usually both. The utility (Eversource, NH Electric Co-op, Central Maine Power or National Grid) owns the wires from the pole to your house. The mast, weatherhead, meter socket and service cable on your house are yours, and an electrician must repair them before the utility will reconnect.

After ice storms and nor'easters, damaged service masts are one of our most common storm repairs. Call your utility to report the downed line, stay clear of it, and call us to repair the equipment on your side so power can be restored as quickly as possible.

Your home is fed by two legs of power, and one has likely failed, either at the utility's connection, in the service wires, at the meter, or at your main breaker.

Check for tripped breakers, then call your utility to check their side. If lights elsewhere are unusually bright or dim, turn off sensitive electronics immediately; that pattern points to a failing neutral connection, which can damage appliances.

One flickering fixture usually means a bad bulb, a loose bulb, or a dimmer that isn't LED-compatible. Flickering or dimming across the house points to a loose connection in the panel, meter or service, and that should be checked promptly.

Lights that dim when the well pump or furnace kicks on can be normal if the dip is brief. If the dimming is dramatic or getting worse, it can mean an overloaded or undersized service or a connection heating up.

A breaker that trips repeatedly is warning you about an overload, a short circuit, or a failing breaker. Don't keep resetting it or replace it with a bigger one.

Winter overloads are common: space heaters, heated blankets and holiday lights on the same circuit. If it trips with nothing plugged in, there's a short in the wiring or a device, and it needs to be found and repaired.

A standby generator starts automatically within seconds of an outage, runs on propane or natural gas, and can power the whole house. A portable generator is less expensive but must be wheeled out, fueled and started by hand, and powers only selected circuits.

Across rural New Hampshire and Maine, where outages after ice storms can last days, standby generators are worth it for many families, especially with a well pump, sump pump, medical equipment or someone who works from home. We install both, including the transfer switch and, for standby units, the pad.

A transfer switch safely switches selected circuits, or the whole house, from utility power to generator power, so the two can never be connected at the same time. Any generator connected to your home's wiring needs one, or an approved interlock.

Automatic transfer switches pair with standby generators and switch over on their own. Manual transfer switches or panel interlocks with an outdoor inlet box are the safe, affordable choice for portable generators.

No. Backfeeding through an outlet is illegal and dangerous. It can electrocute utility line workers restoring power on your road, and it can start a fire when grid power comes back.

An inlet box with an interlock or transfer switch is the right way to do it, and it's usually a single-day installation.

To run essentials such as a well pump, furnace or boiler, refrigerator, freezer, some lights and outlets, most homes need roughly 7,500 to 12,000 watts. Whole-house coverage often takes a 20 kW or larger standby unit.

Well pumps and other motors need extra power to start, so they drive the sizing. We look at what you actually need running during a multi-day outage and size the generator and transfer switch to match.

Run a portable generator under load for a short time every month or two, keep fresh, stabilized fuel on hand, and change the oil per the manufacturer. Standby generators exercise themselves weekly but still need an annual service.

The worst time to find out a generator won't start is the first night of an ice storm. Also keep snow clear of the unit's intake and exhaust, and never run a portable generator in a garage, basement or near windows.

Consider an upgrade if you still have fuses, a 60 or 100-amp service that's full, breakers that trip often, a panel that's rusty, warm or scorched, or plans to add a generator, heat pump, EV charger, pool or addition.

Many New England homes have outgrown their original service. A modern 200-amp panel adds capacity, room for new circuits, and today's safety protection. We handle the meter socket, service cable and coordination with your utility for the disconnect and reconnect.

Fuses themselves protect circuits well when the right size is used. The trouble is age, limited capacity, and the temptation to put in a bigger fuse when one keeps blowing, which lets wires overheat.

Many insurers also charge more for, or decline, homes with fuse panels. Replacing a fuse box with a modern breaker panel is one of the most common and worthwhile upgrades in older homes.

It generally means upgrading the feed to a panel so the neutral and ground are carried separately, as modern code requires for subpanels and many service configurations, instead of sharing one conductor.

Older homes often have a meter outside and a panel inside with a 3-wire feed between them. When we upgrade, we bring the service and panel up to current code, which is safer and required for inspection.

Yes. Both have documented histories of breakers that may not trip during an overload or short circuit, so replacement is recommended.

Because the defect only shows up when a breaker needs to trip, a panel that has 'worked fine for years' can still be unsafe. Many home inspectors and insurers flag these brands.

It should be replaced. Knob-and-tube has no ground, its insulation becomes brittle with age, and it's often been spliced into by later owners. Many insurers won't cover it.

It's especially risky where insulation has been blown over it, because it was designed to cool in open air. We can rewire old houses, including 1800s farmhouses and capes, without gutting them, working through attics, basements and closets.

Yes, in most cases. We fish new wire through existing walls and ceilings from the attic and basement, opening only small, patchable holes.

We've updated whole kitchens and full houses this way, checking every circuit as we go. Old plaster takes more care than drywall, but it can be done cleanly.

Typically a service upgrade, new circuits for heat and appliances, GFCI protection, proper grounding, and replacement of any old or DIY wiring, plus heat tape or freeze protection for water lines.

Seasonal camps around the lakes often have small services and wiring never meant for winter loads. We evaluate what's there, give you a detailed estimate, and bring it up to code for year-round living.

Yes, when it's listed heat cable plugged into a GFCI-protected outlet and installed per the manufacturer. Old, cracked or improperly wrapped heat tape is a real fire risk.

Replace heat tape that's more than a few years old or shows any discoloration. We add dedicated GFCI outlets and thermostatic controls where heat cable is needed every winter in crawlspaces, well pits and mobile homes.

Often. Common electrical causes are a tripped breaker, a failed pressure switch, a bad capacitor or control box, or a loose or burned connection.

We test the circuit, pressure switch and control box to pin down whether it's electrical or the pump itself, so you don't replace a pump that didn't need it. No water in winter is urgent, so call.

Pool and spa equipment needs GFCI-protected circuits, proper bonding of the metal parts and water, and correctly located disconnects and outlets. For example, a general-purpose GFCI outlet is required near a pool, at least 6 feet and no more than 20 feet from the water's edge.

Pump motors typically get their own GFCI-protected circuit, separate from the convenience outlets. These rules exist because water and electricity are unforgiving; we wire pools and spas to code and explain what we've done.

Most large or motor-driven appliances do: ranges, dryers, dishwashers, microwaves, freezers, well pumps, heat pumps, air conditioners, spas and shop equipment.

Sharing a circuit causes nuisance tripping and overheating. We install special appliance circuits sized to the manufacturer's requirements, with the right breaker and outlet.

A GFCI protects you from shock by shutting off power when current leaks to ground. An AFCI protects the house from fire by detecting dangerous arcing in damaged cords and loose connections.

GFCIs belong in bathrooms, kitchens, basements, garages, outdoors and around pools. AFCIs are required on most living-area circuits in newer homes and renovations.

Call right away for a burning smell, smoke, sparks, a hot or buzzing panel, scorched outlets, no power in winter, water on electrical equipment, or any shock from a fixture or appliance.

If there's smoke or fire, get out and call 911. Otherwise, shut off the affected breaker, or the main if you can't tell which one, and call. We take emergency calls and get there as fast as we can.

A code violation is any wiring that doesn't meet the electrical code: missing GFCIs, open junction boxes, overfused circuits, double-tapped breakers, missing grounds, or improper splices.

Violations often turn up during a home sale inspection, an insurance inspection, or when a new owner finds a previous owner's DIY work. We correct them properly, and we can do an inspection first so you know exactly what needs attention.

Replace smoke alarms every 10 years and CO alarms every 7 to 10 years, and test them monthly.

With woodstoves, oil and propane heat common in the region, carbon monoxide alarms on every level and near bedrooms are essential. Hardwired, interconnected alarms are best, so when one sounds, they all sound.

Generally yes for new circuits, service and panel work, generators and remodels. In New Hampshire, permits come from your town's building department or the State Fire Marshal, depending on the town. Maine and Massachusetts each require work by a licensed electrician, with state or local permits.

Rules vary by town, which is one reason we hold master electrician licenses in all three states. Permitted, inspected work protects your safety, your insurance and your home's resale value.

As detailed as the job needs. Simple repairs get a straightforward price. Bigger projects, like a panel upgrade with a rewire, get a written, itemized estimate so you know exactly what's included.

One customer's challenging whole-house project got an 11-page estimate. If something unexpected turns up once walls or panels are opened, we explain it and discuss any change in cost before doing the extra work.