Electrical emergencies don’t send calendar invites. They don’t wait for convenient times, and they certainly don’t care that you’ve got a big meeting tomorrow. One minute you’re going about your day, the next you’re wondering if that burning smell is serious enough to call someone right now, or if it can wait until Monday.
Here’s the thing about electrical emergencies: the confusion about what actually qualifies as one can be just as dangerous as the emergency itself. Wait too long to call for help, and you’re risking your home and family. Call too quickly for every minor issue, and you’re wasting time and money.
That’s why we’ve created this guide. As a registered master electrician with over 180 five-star Google reviews, Luno Electrical has responded to every type of electrical emergency Melbourne can throw at us. We know the difference between “call immediately” and “schedule for next week,” and we’re here to help you navigate these current situations. (See what we did there?)
By the end of this article, you’ll have a clear framework for assessing any electrical issue and knowing exactly when to call an emergency electrician. And if you’re ever in doubt, contact Luno for expert assessment and your free quote.
What Exactly IS an Electrical Emergency?
An electrical emergency is any electrical issue that poses an immediate or imminent risk to life, property, or safety. But that definition doesn’t help much when you’re standing in your kitchen wondering if that buzzing sound from the switchboard is normal.
Let’s make this practical. We’ve broken electrical issues into three clear categories:
CRITICAL (Call 000 First, Then an Electrician) These situations involve active danger to life or property. Emergency services need to be on the scene, and you’ll need a licensed electrician immediately after to make things safe again.
URGENT (Call an Emergency Electrician Immediately) These issues present serious electrical faults that could escalate to fires or shocks. They need professional attention as soon as possible, but you’re not actively evacuating the building.
NON-URGENT (Schedule an Appointment) These are electrical jobs that need doing, but they can wait for normal business hours without putting anyone at risk.
Understanding the difference between these three levels isn’t just about convenience. It’s about knowing your watts from your won’t’s. It’s about keeping your family safe while not overreacting to every flickering light bulb.
CRITICAL Emergencies: Call 000 First, Then an Electrician
Some electrical situations are so serious that your first call needs to be to emergency services. Only after they’ve secured the scene should you contact an emergency electrician to assess and repair the damage.
Electrical Fire
Any visible flames coming from outlets, your switchboard, appliances, or wiring require immediate action. If you see fire or smell smoke with visible flames, this is a critical emergency.
What to do: Evacuate everyone immediately. Call 000. Do NOT attempt to extinguish an electrical fire with water as water conducts electricity and you’ll make the situation dramatically worse. If you have a fire extinguisher rated for electrical fires and can use it safely, do so. Otherwise, get out and let the fire service handle it.
After the fire service has secured the scene, you’ll need a licensed electrician like Luno to inspect the damage, identify the cause, and make repairs. Never attempt to re-energise your electrical system without a professional inspection. What caused one fire can easily cause another.
Someone Receiving an Electric Shock
If someone in your home is in contact with an electrical source and cannot let go (their muscles contract and they’re stuck to the source), this is a life-threatening emergency.
What to do: Do NOT touch them directly. You’ll become part of the circuit and be shocked too. Instead, turn off the power at your main switchboard if you can safely access it. If you cannot turn off the power, use a non-conductive item like a wooden broom handle to separate them from the electrical source. Never use anything metal.
Call 000 immediately. Once emergency services have treated the victim, you’ll need an emergency electrician to identify what caused the shock and fix the electrical fault.
Fallen Powerlines
If a power line has fallen on your property or nearby, this is extremely dangerous. Assume all fallen power lines are live and deadly.
What to do: Stay at least 10 meters away from any fallen power line. Call 000 immediately. Also notify your electricity distributor (United Energy, AusNet Services, or others depending on your Melbourne location). Never, under any circumstances, approach a fallen power line. Even if it doesn’t appear to be sparking or active, it can still kill you instantly.
If the fallen line has damaged your property’s electrical system, you’ll need a licensed electrician to inspect and repair once the distributor has made the power line safe.
Smoke or Flames from Your Switchboard
If you see smoke coming from your electrical panel or switchboard, you have seconds before this becomes a fire.
What to do: If you can safely reach the main power switch, turn it off. Evacuate immediately and call 000. After emergency services give the all-clear, contact an emergency electrician to assess the damage and make repairs.
These situations are definitely not the time to be charged with indecision. When lives are at stake, call 000 first, ask questions later.
URGENT Emergencies: Call an Emergency Electrician Now
These situations need immediate professional attention but aren’t actively threatening lives in the moment. Don’t wait, don’t try to fix it yourself, and don’t hope it goes away. Call a licensed electrician right now.
Burning Smell from Electrical Sources
That distinctive smell of hot plastic or burning rubber coming from outlets, switches, or appliances is your electrical system’s way of screaming for help. This smell often indicates overheating wiring or components, and it’s the warning sign you get BEFORE something catches fire.
What to do: Turn off power to the affected circuit at your switchboard. Don’t just unplug things and hope for the best. Call an emergency electrician immediately. This is not something that “goes away” – it escalates.
In Melbourne’s older homes, particularly in inner suburbs, we see this frequently when modern electrical demands meet aging wiring that was never designed to handle them.
Sparking Outlets or Switches
If you see sparks when plugging things in, blue flashes from power points, or hear crackling and popping sounds from outlets or switches, you have a serious electrical fault. This indicates loose connections, damaged wiring, or short circuits, any of which can cause fires.
What to do: Stop using the affected outlet immediately. Unplug everything from it. Turn off power to that circuit if you know which breaker controls it. Call an emergency electrician straight away.
Hot or Warm Power Points and Switch Plates
Power outlets and light switches should never be hot to the touch. Warm wall plates indicate dangerous overheating that can lead to melted wire insulation and electrical fires.
What to do: Stop using the outlet or switch immediately. This is particularly common in Melbourne homes where multiple high-draw appliances are plugged into older circuits. Your switchboard is trying to tell you something important. Listen to it by calling an emergency electrician.
Repeated Circuit Breaker Trips
If the same circuit breaker keeps tripping even after you reset it, or if multiple breakers are tripping frequently, you have a significant electrical problem. Circuit breakers trip to protect you from overloads and faults. When they keep tripping, they’re doing their job – warning you of danger.
What to do: Don’t keep resetting the breaker hoping it will “sort itself out.” This is like disconnecting your smoke alarm because it keeps going off. The breaker is trying to protect you from an electrical fault or dangerous overload. Call an emergency electrician to diagnose and fix the underlying problem.
Complete, Unexplained Power Loss
If your entire property loses power but your neighbours still have electricity, and it’s not a planned outage, you likely have a serious issue with your main switchboard or service connection.
What to do: Check with neighbours to confirm they have power. If it’s just your property, call an emergency electrician immediately. This needs professional diagnosis and repair.
Buzzing, Humming, or Crackling from Your Switchboard
Your electrical panel should be silent. If you hear buzzing, humming, or crackling sounds coming from it, you have loose connections or failing components. These issues can escalate quickly to complete failure or fire.
If your house is buzzing and you don’t keep bees, call us.
What to do: Don’t ignore unusual sounds from your switchboard. These are warning signs of serious problems developing. Contact an emergency electrician for immediate inspection.
Exposed or Damaged Wiring
Any wiring that’s become visible, has damaged insulation, or has been chewed through by pests creates immediate shock and fire hazards.
This is surprisingly common in Melbourne homes. Possums love roof spaces, and rats will chew through cables without a second thought. We’ve also seen renovation projects that accidentally damaged wiring in walls.
What to do: Don’t touch exposed wiring. Turn off power to the affected area if you can do so safely. Keep everyone away from the area and call an emergency electrician immediately.
Is It REALLY an Emergency? When You Can Schedule
Not every electrical issue requires dropping everything and calling for immediate help. These situations can wait for a normal appointment during business hours:
Can Schedule for Later:
- A single light fixture not working (after you’ve checked the bulb)
- Want to install additional power outlets for convenience
- Planning to upgrade to LED lighting throughout your home
- Installing ceiling fans
- Setting up electrical for a home office renovation
- Upgrading your switchboard (if it’s not currently causing problems)
- Adding circuits for a planned kitchen renovation
- Installing new appliances (planned installations)
- Routine electrical safety inspection
The Simple Rule: If there’s no burning smell, no sparks, no shocks, no smoke, and no immediate safety concern, it’s probably not an emergency. It might still be important work that needs doing, but it can wait for a scheduled appointment.
However, here’s the important caveat: when in doubt, call a registered master electrician like Luno for advice. We’d much rather have you call and discover it’s not an emergency than have you wait on something that turns into a dangerous situation. There’s no charge for asking the question.
What to Do While Waiting for Your Emergency Electrician
You’ve identified an emergency and called for professional help. Now what? Here are the critical safety steps to take while waiting for your electrician to arrive.
Turn Off Power (If Safe to Do So)
For issues with specific outlets or appliances, turn off power to that circuit at your switchboard. For whole-house emergencies, you might consider turning off your main power switch. Only do this if you can safely access your switchboard without putting yourself at risk.
Mark the breaker with tape or a note so everyone in your household knows not to turn it back on.
Unplug Affected Appliances
Don’t just turn off the appliance, unplug it completely. This disconnects it entirely from the power source. If the outlet is sparking or hot, don’t touch it – you’ve already turned off power to that circuit at the switchboard, right?
Keep Everyone Away
Clear the problem area of all people and pets. If necessary, put up barriers or close doors to prevent anyone from wandering into a dangerous area. Children are naturally curious, so make sure they understand the area is off-limits.
Never Use Water on Electrical Issues
This seems obvious, but it’s worth stating clearly: never attempt to extinguish electrical fires with water. Water conducts electricity. You won’t put out the fire, you’ll just add electrocution to your list of problems.
Don’t Attempt DIY Repairs
In Australia, only licensed electricians are legally permitted to perform electrical work. This isn’t just a suggestion, it’s the law enforced by Energy Safe Victoria. Beyond the legal issues, electrical work is genuinely dangerous. Electricity doesn’t give second chances.
Leave the shocking discoveries to the professionals. (We’ve earned the right to make that joke after years of training and experience.)
Document the Situation
While you’re waiting, gather information that will help your electrician diagnose the problem faster:
- When did the problem start?
- What were you doing when it occurred?
- Any unusual smells, sounds, or visual signs?
- Recent electrical work or new appliances installed?
- Which circuit breakers have tripped?
- Has this happened before?
Make Your Switchboard Accessible
Your emergency electrician will need to access your switchboard immediately. Clear away any storage boxes, furniture, or other items blocking it. Know where it is – surprisingly, some homeowners aren’t sure of its exact location. Check your garage, laundry, or exterior wall if you’re not certain.
Why Melbourne Homes Have Specific Electrical Emergency Risks
Melbourne’s unique housing stock and environmental factors create specific electrical emergency risks that residents should understand.
Older Homes in Inner Suburbs
Many Melbourne suburbs, particularly the inner areas, feature beautiful homes that are 50 to 100+ years old. While these homes have character and charm, their electrical systems often don’t. Original wiring was never designed to handle modern electrical loads like air conditioning, home offices full of electronics, electric vehicle chargers, and multiple high-draw appliances running simultaneously.
Aging wire insulation becomes brittle and can crack or fail. Old switchboards lack modern safety features like RCDs (Residual Current Devices) that protect against electric shocks. Ceramic fuse boxes can’t provide the protection of modern circuit breakers. All of these factors increase the risk of electrical faults and emergencies.
Melbourne Weather Events
Melbourne’s famously unpredictable weather creates electrical hazards. Severe storms can cause dangerous power surges when electricity is restored after outages. Lightning strikes, while relatively rare, can devastate a home’s electrical system. Heavy rain and flooding can damage electrical components, creating shock hazards. Wind damage to overhead powerlines is common in Melbourne’s leafy suburbs, especially during storm season.
After any significant weather event, it’s worth having your electrical system inspected even if everything appears to be working normally.
Modern Electrical Demands
Today’s households use dramatically more electricity than homes did even 20 years ago. We’re running home offices, charging multiple devices, using air conditioning extensively, and adding more appliances every year. Many Melbourne homes are trying to run 21st-century lifestyles through electrical systems designed for the 20th century (or earlier).
This mismatch between demand and capacity is a recipe for overloaded circuits, tripped breakers, and electrical emergencies.
Pest Damage to Wiring
This is a uniquely Australian problem that catches many homeowners by surprise. Possums in roof spaces and rats or mice in wall cavities will chew through electrical cables. They’re not trying to cause trouble, they’re just being rodents and possums. But the result is damaged cable insulation, exposed wiring, and serious fire and shock risks.
Often, this damage goes unnoticed until it causes a power failure or, worse, an emergency. If you’ve had pest problems, it’s worth having your wiring inspected.
Why You Need a Licensed Emergency Electrician (Not DIY)
When you’re facing an electrical emergency, the temptation to “just fix it yourself” can be strong. Don’t do it. Here’s why.
It’s the Law in Victoria
In Victoria, only licensed electricians are legally permitted to perform electrical work. Energy Safe Victoria enforces this strictly, and violations carry serious penalties. This isn’t bureaucratic red tape, it’s recognition that electrical work is inherently dangerous and requires proper training, knowledge, and equipment.
If you perform electrical work yourself, your home insurance may be void. If your DIY electrical work causes a fire or someone is injured, you could face criminal charges in addition to civil liability. It’s simply not worth the risk.
Safety First, Always
Electricity can kill instantly. There are no second chances, no “oops, let me try that again.” Professional electricians have years of training specifically to work safely with electricity. We understand Australian electrical codes and Victorian regulations. We know how to test circuits properly, identify hidden hazards, and make repairs that won’t create new problems.
Your life and your family’s safety are worth more than saving a few dollars on an emergency call out.
Quality Work and Genuine Peace of Mind
Licensed electricians carry professional insurance. Our work must meet Australian standards and Victorian electrical regulations. When Luno completes a job, it comes with our lifetime warranty – if anything goes wrong with our workmanship, we’ll fix it. No questions asked. No time limit.
This lifetime warranty isn’t just a marketing slogan. We stand behind every emergency repair, every installation, every piece of electrical work we complete. Forever. That’s the difference between a professional repair and a DIY patch job.
The Luno Difference for Melbourne Electrical Emergencies
When you call Luno Electrical for an emergency, you’re getting:
A Registered Master Electrician – This is the highest qualification in the electrical trade. It means extensive training, rigorous examination, and ongoing professional development. When we assess your emergency, you’re getting expert diagnosis from someone who genuinely knows what they’re doing.
180+ Five-Star Google Reviews – These aren’t fake reviews or reviews from friends and family. These are real Melbourne customers who’ve experienced our emergency service, our workmanship, and our commitment to customer satisfaction.
Always On Time – Electrical emergencies are stressful enough without wondering when help will arrive. When we give you a time, we’ll be there. Your time matters, especially in an emergency.
We Clean Up After Every Job – Even in emergencies, we treat your home with respect. You shouldn’t be left cleaning up after us. We leave your property as clean as we found it, often cleaner.
Lifetime Warranty on All Work – Every electrical emergency we respond to, every repair we make, every installation we complete comes with our lifetime warranty. If something goes wrong with our work, we’ll fix it. That’s our promise.
Free Quotes – Every emergency is different, and we can’t diagnose complex electrical issues over the phone. That’s why we provide free quotes after assessing your situation. You’ll know exactly what needs to be done and what it will cost before we start work.
Why did the DIY electrician go to the hospital? He couldn’t resist. Don’t let that be you. Call a professional.
Understanding Emergency Electrician Costs in Melbourne
One of the most common questions we get is “How much will this emergency cost?” It’s a completely fair question, especially when you’re already stressed about an electrical problem.
Here’s the honest answer: every electrical emergency is genuinely different. The cost depends on several factors:
The Nature and Severity of the Emergency: A simple issue like a single tripped circuit that’s easily resolved takes less time and fewer materials than rewiring a section of your home damaged by an electrical fault or pests.
Time Required for Safe Repair: Some electrical emergencies can be quickly resolved once we identify the problem. Others require extensive diagnosis, testing, and repair work to ensure everything is safe and code compliant.
Parts and Materials Needed: Modern safety switches, quality circuit breakers, proper wiring, and other electrical components aren’t cheap. We use quality materials because your safety depends on them. Some repairs require specialised parts that need to meet Australian standards.
Location Within Greater Melbourne: We service all of Melbourne, but travel time and accessibility can affect service costs.
Why Pricing Varies
Unlike changing a light bulb, electrical emergencies can’t be quoted sight-unseen. What appears to be a simple outlet problem might reveal outdated wiring throughout a circuit when we start investigating. A tripped breaker might indicate an overloaded circuit requiring an entire panel upgrade to handle modern electrical demands safely.
We also can’t diagnose complex electrical faults over the phone. Electrical systems are complicated, and safe repairs require proper testing equipment and hands-on assessment.
Luno’s Approach to Emergency Pricing
We believe in transparent, honest pricing. After assessing your electrical emergency, we’ll provide a free quote explaining exactly what needs to be done and what it will cost. No hidden fees. No surprise charges. You’ll approve the work before we begin.
Yes, you might find a cheaper electrician. But will their work be backed by a lifetime warranty? Will they be properly licensed and insured? Will they use quality materials and follow Australian electrical standards? Will they still answer your calls if something goes wrong in a year?
Our lifetime warranty means you’re investing in a permanent solution, not just a temporary patch. That’s genuine value.
Every emergency is different, so if you want specific pricing for your situation, simply contact us for your free quote.
Don’t Wait for Small Problems to Become Big Emergencies
The electrical emergency you prevent is always cheaper, safer, and less stressful than the one you respond to. If you’re noticing warning signs – lights dimming when you run appliances, breakers tripping occasionally, outlets that feel slightly warm – don’t ignore them. These are your electrical system’s way of asking for help before things escalate to genuine emergencies.
Remember the Three-Tier Emergency System:
CRITICAL – Active fires, electric shocks, fallen powerlines, smoke from switchboard. Call 000 first, then call an emergency electrician immediately.
URGENT – Burning smells, sparking outlets, hot power points, repeated breaker trips, buzzing from switchboard, exposed wiring. Call an emergency electrician right now.
NON-URGENT – Everything else can be scheduled for a normal appointment.
When you need an emergency electrician in Melbourne, you need someone you can trust. You need a registered master electrician who’s seen every type of electrical emergency Melbourne can throw at them. You need someone with 180+ five-star reviews from real customers. You need someone who’ll arrive on time, fix the problem properly, and back their work with a lifetime warranty.
You need Luno Electrical.
We’ve helped hundreds of Melbourne homeowners through electrical emergencies, from storm damage in leafy suburbs to overloaded circuits in century-old homes. We know Melbourne’s unique electrical challenges, and we know how to fix them right the first time.
Don’t wait for a small electrical problem to become a dangerous emergency. Whether you’re dealing with sparking outlets right now or you’ve noticed warning signs that have you concerned, contact Luno Electrical today for your free quote.
When it comes to electrical emergencies, it’s better to be safe than shocked.
Call Luno Electrical – Melbourne’s trusted emergency electrician with the lifetime warranty that means permanent peace of mind.
For more information read on electrical emergencies, read our other articles:
Emergency Electrician/Fault Finding
Emergency Electrician Melbourne
Emergency Electrician Hawthorn
Emergency Electrical Repair Melbourne
After hours issues: Try this article: After Hours Electrician Melbourne | Emergency Electrical Work
