If you smell burning plastic, see sparks, or notice smoke — stop using this tool and call your local emergency services immediately (999 UK, 911 US, 112 EU, 000 AU). For a power cut or a downed line, contact your power company's emergency line.
Safe enough to wait for the electrician.
Four everyday risk areas in any home, each written as a short Do / Don't card. None of this is a replacement for a qualified electrician — it's what we'd say if you called us tonight and asked 'what should I avoid until you arrive?'
Water & electrics
Bathrooms, kitchens and garden taps are the riskiest places for electric shock. Assume every droplet is a path.
Do
- Wipe water off hands and sockets with a dry cloth before touching.
- Use a dedicated low-voltage bathroom socket for toothbrushes — never a kitchen extension lead.
- Make sure wet-area circuits (bathroom, kitchen, outdoors) have residual-current protection (RCD in the UK, GFCI in the US). Modern homes should have it — ask an electrician to check if you're unsure.
Don't
- Do not use hairdryers, heaters or plug-in devices near a running bath.
- Do not plug outdoor lights into an indoor socket through a window seal.
- Do not leave a wet umbrella against a wall socket or extension lead.
Six electrician words, translated.
Every electrician shortens these. Here's what they mean in kitchen-table English.
Breaker panel
also: Consumer unit · FuseboxThe box of switches that controls electricity in the home. Modern ones have circuit breakers, older ones have fuses.
MCB / Breaker
also: Miniature circuit breakerThe individual switches on the panel. Each protects one circuit — for example 'Kitchen sockets' or 'Upstairs lights'.
RCD / GFCI
also: Residual-current device · Ground-fault circuit interrupterA safety switch that trips within milliseconds if it detects current leaking to earth — for example through a person in a wet room.
Earthing / Grounding
also: Same thing, different wordsThe safety wire that carries a fault current away from you and into the ground. The reason you are alive during a fault.
EICR / Condition report
also: Periodic inspectionA written electrical inspection report. Landlords in many countries must hold a valid version for tenants (every 5 years in the UK).
Spur / Fused connection
also: Wired-off outletA socket wired off an existing one — usually to power a boiler, extractor, or fixed appliance. Has its own small fuse.
When in doubt, switch off at the consumer unit and call a registered electrician. Everything else is optional.