Emergency Electrician in Hollis, Maine

Some calls should not wait until morning: a panel that smells of burning, an outlet too hot to rest a hand on, or lights that flicker each time the well pump kicks in. About a third of Hollis houses went up in the 1960s and 1970s, and in those, loose connections on aluminum branch circuits and tired breakers in panels of that age are common culprits. If you can get to it safely, switch off that circuit or the main, stay clear of anything smoking or sparking, and call 911 if there is fire. If the smell persists after the power is off, leave the house and let the fire department check it. Goodnow Electric takes emergency calls around the clock and makes the house safe before any repair.

Storm damage is the other kind of emergency. When a limb comes down on the service drop it can rip the mast from the wall, crack the meter socket, or leave a live wire in the yard. Keep your distance from any downed line and phone both Central Maine Power and 911. CMP's responsibility ends at the weatherhead and the meter. Past that point the mast, the socket, the service entrance cable and all the wiring in the house are yours, and a licensed electrician has to fix them before power is restored. Goodnow Electric rebuilds damaged masts and sockets, files the state paperwork, and sets up the reconnect with the utility.

Winter brings hazards of its own. A service drop loaded with ice, or snow sheeting off a steep roof, can bend a mast weeks after the storm has passed. When an outage drags on, a portable generator fed through a dryer receptacle or a homemade cord can backfeed the utility line and endanger the crews restoring it, which is the job an interlock kit or transfer switch does properly. If your panel is dead while the rest of the street has power, or the main breaker keeps tripping, the fault is on your side of the meter, and resetting it again and again only makes it worse. Call for help instead, and keep the panel cover closed until someone qualified has looked.