What counts as a real emergency, what to do before we arrive, and what after-hours actually costs — told to you on the phone, not in your driveway.
Most electrical problems can wait until Tuesday. A few genuinely cannot, and the difference is worth knowing before you are standing in a dark garage trying to decide.
If you see smoke or flame, call 911 first. If you can safely reach the main breaker, shut it off. Do not open a panel that is wet, hot or making noise. Nothing on this page is worth being in the room for.
We diagnose before we sell. That means a thermal scan of the panel and the affected circuits, a check of the service entrance, grounding and bonding, voltage and load readings under actual conditions, and tracing the fault to its source rather than swapping parts until the symptom moves. You get told what is wrong, what it will cost, and what can safely wait — in writing, before anything is replaced.
Emergency diagnostic work carries about a 35% premium over our standard rate. We say the number on the phone before we dispatch. There is no version of this where you find out the price after a truck is in your driveway and the panel is already open — that practice is common in this trade and it is precisely why people distrust it.
Dead outlets, a breaker that will not reset, flickering lights, a tripping GFCI, half a lanai with no power, a failed pool pump circuit, a bathroom that goes dark when the hair dryer runs. These get booked within two to four business days at standard rates. If you are not sure which category you are in, call and describe it — we will tell you honestly whether it can wait, and we do not charge for that conversation.
Call immediately, at any hour, for: a burning or fishy smell near outlets or the panel; visible sparking or arcing; a panel or outlet that is hot to the touch; scorch marks or discolouration around a receptacle; water in or near an electrical panel; a damaged service mast or a drop pulled loose from the house; or a partial power loss where half the house is dead and the other half is not. That last one often means a lost neutral, which can push damaging voltage through your appliances and is far more serious than it feels.
If you smell burning or see sparking, turn off the main breaker if you can reach it safely and stay away from the panel. Do not touch a panel that is wet, hot, or making noise. If there is visible fire or smoke, get everyone out and call 911 first. If a service drop is down on your property, stay well clear and call Duke Energy — the line between the pole and your meter is their equipment, not ours. For a partial outage, unplug sensitive electronics; a lost neutral can send high voltage down half your circuits.
We aim to reach a Lake Mary address within about ninety minutes for genuine emergencies, because we work only inside Seminole County rather than across the whole metro. After-hours diagnostic work carries a premium of roughly 35% over standard rates, which we tell you on the phone before we roll — not after we are standing in your garage. You get a number before you commit.
Usually not tonight, but it is not something to keep resetting either. A breaker that trips is doing its job — something is drawing more current than the circuit is rated for, or there is a fault. Repeatedly resetting it defeats the one device standing between a fault and a fire. Unplug things on that circuit, leave it off, and book a diagnostic. It becomes an emergency the moment there is heat, smell, scorching, or a buzzing sound at the breaker.
Ready to get a number? Call (407) 974-3766 for a free written quote, or run the instant estimate tool first if you would rather see a range before you talk to anyone.
