What to Do if the Lights Go Out

8/8/2019 What to Do if the Lights Go Out

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What to doif the lights

go out


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Faulty appliance I the circuit breaker trips again while

reconnecting appliances, you have most likely located the

aulty equipment. Faulty appliances will need to be repaired

by a qualied repairer or replaced.

Faulty wiring I you have disconnected all your appliances

and the circuit breaker cannot be reset, there may be a

ault in the xed wiring or equipment. You will need to

contact a licensed electrical contractor to identiy the

problem and make the necessary repairs.

All of the lights and appliances in your

home lose power.

What may have happened?

There could be a number o reasons why the power is

not available. The problem could be with Country Energys

network or may be with your wiring or appliances and

thereore a process o elimination should be ollowed

to identiy the source o the problem.

What can yu d?

Overload There may be too many appliances being used

at the one time, an appliance may be aulty, or there may

be a problem with your wiring. Follow the same procedure

or Some o the lights and appliances in your home lose

power (see page 2).

I you have checked your switchboard and everything

appears to be normal, call Country Energy on 13 20 80

to report the problem.

What t d if the lights g ut

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There are many ways that the power

supply can be interrupted to homes

and businesses.

While we regularly inspect and maintain the electricity

network to ensure you enjoy a reliable supply, there willbe occasions when owing to circumstances beyond

Country Energys control, the supply may be interrupted

to your installation.

This brochure explains why your supply may be interrupted

and what steps you can take to identiy the cause and

arrange or restoration o the power supply. We also oer

advice on what you can do to help us pinpoint a problem

when the power does go out.

Some of the lights and appliances in

your home lose power.


A circuit may be overloaded or a aulty appliance or

wiring has caused a saety switch or circuit breaker to

trip (in older homes, a use to blow). Circuit breakers

are designed to trip i they detect an overload or ault

in your wiring or appliances.

What can yu d?

Firstly, switch o and unplug all appliances. Check your

switchboard and reset the circuit breaker i tripped or renew

the blown use. I you are not condent to complete this

task then call a licensed electricial contractor to assist.Reconnect and switch on appliances one by one.

What went wrng?

Simple overload Too many appliances were being used

on the one circuit at the same time (e.g. a large appliance

such as a heater plus a hair dryer and toaster). I you are

experiencing overloading problems with a circuit where

multiple appliances are used at the same time, you may

need to contact a licensed electrical contractor to install

additional power circuits.


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Lights go dim appliances may stop.


Brownout similar to a supply interruption but some houses

will have no supply, others will have very low voltage.

What can yu d?Follow the same procedure or Other homes and street

lights lose power (see page 4). Make sure you have one

or two torches ready and try not to open the door o the

ridge or reezer.

CHECK:Can you see if other houses or streetlights are

affected? If you have checked your switchboard and

everything looks normal, and no other houses or streetlights

are affected, call us on 13 20 80.

HINT:Switch off all appliances paying particular care to

switch off appliances containing motors (e.g. fridge, freezer,

pressure pump, air conditioners etc) as these appliances could

sustain damage if allowed to remain connected duringbrownout conditions. Leave one light switched on so youll

know when the problem has been fixed. When the problem

has been rectified, dont forget to make sure that all

appliances that were previously switched off are now

operating normally.

Lights go dim over time heating

appliances go slow.


Low supply voltage, usually caused by large additional

demands on the electricity network.

What can yu d?

Contact Country Energy on 13 20 80 to report the problem.

Lights flicker.


The power supply may have been disturbed. The cause

could be in your home, in neighbouring premises, or in

the electricity network.

What can yu d?

Note when the problem occurs. Does it coincide with

anything, e.g. large appliances such as air conditioners

being switched on? Are your neighbours also aected?


Other homes and streetlights lose power.


Supply interruption An overload or ault on the electricity

network has caused Country Energy protection equipment to

operate. Protection equipment may operate during a storm or i

part o the electricity network has been damaged. When this

happens, your electricity supply will be temporarily interrupted

to prevent any serious damage to the electricity network.

What can yu d?

Calling Country Energy on 13 20 80 may help pinpoint the

problem more quickly, especially i you have any relevant

inormation regarding damage to the electricity network

such as wires down or a vehicle colliding with a pole.

Be prepared.

When you experience a supply interruption there are a ew

things you can do to be better prepared:

Lighting Keep one or two reliable torches with reshbatteries in spots that are easy to access in your home.

Make sure everyone in the amily knows where they are

and can nd them in the dark.

Frozen food Fridges and reezers are good insulators.

I you dont open the doors, the rozen ood can maintain

its temperature or up to 10 hours or longer depending

on how hot the weather is.

Back up supply A small generator can supply power to

water pumps and other parts o the home, which can be

particularly useul in bushre-prone areas. I the generator

is to be interconnected with your house wiring, it must be

installed by a licensed electrical contractor who will install

a change over switch to isolate your installation rom the

power supply when the generator is in use.


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NoTE:Where supply quality is an ongoing problem, Country

Country Energy should be contacted so that the matter

can be investigated. This will allow us to identify a solution

to the problem.

Protecting your appliances

Depending on the severity, lights fickering when appliances

start is a normal condition and causes no harm. However,

you may be concerned about the eects on sensitive

electronic equipment such as sound systems and

computers. A UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) is the

best protection or sensitive equipment. It has an internal

battery to maintain supply or up to 20 minutes, so you can

save your les and saely shut down your computer.

Lights suddenly dim, then recover.


You may be experiencing temporary low supply voltage

caused by switching on large loads. This may be caused by

an appliance in your home, in which case you will notice the

lights go dim when the appliance is switched on. It could

also be in nearby premises or on the electricity network.

What can yu d?

I the problem is in your home, you may need to contact

a licensed electrical contractor to investigate the matter

urther and oer a solution. Otherwise, call Country Energy

on 13 20 80 to report the problem.

Restoring supply

Switch appliances o but leave at least one light on so you

know when supply has been restored. When the power is

back on, wait a ew minutes beore switching everything on

again. Resetting clocks and timers can be a nuisance but

many appliances now include battery backup. I yours do,

make sure you replace their batteries regularly.

Surge protection

Some people are concerned about power surges.

This term reers to a range o sudden voltage increases.

There are many dierent reasons why this may occur, such

as switching operations on the electricity network, lightning

strikes or as a result o a trac accident. I you think your

installation is at risk, surge protection devices are available

and are relatively inexpensive. To protect the entire house,

a licensed electrical contractor can install one on your

switchboard. Alternatively, you can buy various portable

devices suitable or protecting individual plug in appliances.

Rural Installations

Across Country Energy there are many differing supply

arrangements on rural properties. In some instances there

will be a main circuit breaker located in a central position

within a meterbox on a pole. In some circumstances these

circuit breakers will be the property of Country Energy while

in other installations they will be part of the customers

installation. If a main circuit breaker was identified as being

in a tripped position, generally speaking where the device is

in sound condition, it is a very simple operation to reset the

device. However, if the circuit breaker was damaged in any

way (could be through lightning strike to the overhead wires

or transformer) it could present a significant danger to

anyone attempting to reset the device.

Wherever there is a significant danger that resetting a

device could cause harm to the person carrying out

the operation, Country Energy should be contacted for

further instruction or for attendance by a Country Energy

service technician.

Installing an air conditioner or other

large electrical load.

What d yu need t d?

I you are planning on connecting a new large load to the

electricity network, please ensure that your licensed electrical

contractor contacts Country Energy prior to the connection

being made. That way we can ensure there is enough energy

supply or all our customers. Country Energy has a process

in place where electrical contractors can make applications

to connect additional load to the electricity network. Where

called or, this process must be ollowed otherwise additional

connected equipment may not unction correctly.


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Keeping it safe n the farm

Customer Service Centres

For more inormation please contact us on 13 23 56,or visit www.cuntryenergy.cm.au/safety

Albury621 Dean Street

Armidale*

Galloway Street

Balranald

90 Market StreetBatemans Bay

Shop 7Bay Centre PlazaOrient Street

Bathurst

151153George Street

Bega

219221 CarpStreet

Broken Hill13 Chloride Street

Coffs Harbour*

102 ThompsonsRoad

Cooma

138 Sharp Street

Cowra

Shop 12Calare BuildingKendal Street

Deniliquin26 Napier Street

Dubbo168 MacquarieStreet

Forbes91 Lachlan Street

Forster

16 Breese Parade

Goulburn148 Auburn Street

Grafton17 Prince Street

Griffith

310 Banna AvenueGulgong102 Herbert Street

Hay81 Lachlan Street

Hillston

151 High Street

Inverell*Burtenshaws Road

Leeton

19 Pine Avenue

Lismore

8183 MolesworthStreet

Moree223 Balo Street

Mudgee102 Church Street

NaroomaUnit M2 NaroomaPlaza

Princes HighwayNarrabri*

1 Logan Street

Narrandera

113 East Street

Oberon157 Oberon Street

Orange187 Summer Street

ParkesCnr Church andClarinda Streets

Port Macquarie8 Buller Street

QueanbeyanGround FloorCity Link Plaza30 Morisset Street

Tamworth

Electra Street

Taree*Whitbread Street

TrundleForbes Street

Tweed Heads

39 SunshineAvenue

Wagga Wagga

2/209 Baylis Street

Wentworth

2426 DarlingStreet

Young

53 Boorowa Street

* Payment acilitiesunavailable.

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What to Do if the Lights Go Out