I need help. I live in a neighborhood in College Park, Md and I'm having electricity problems. Every once in a while my houses power will turn off for a few hours then come back on all of a sudden. The thing is it's not the whole house. Some of the basement, an outlet on the first floor, and an outlet on the second floor still work when this happens, which leads me to believe it's not a problem at the power lines (like a dumb electrician said). The house was made in the 60's and has a horrible wiring job. The things that do work when the power goes off are connected to a single breaker I believe, but this would mean the wiring in the house is worse than I thought. My landlord doesn't really seem to do anything and I'm worried that once winter comes I won't have heat. Someone please help.

When power reaches your house, it is in two separate "halves" so to speak. One half, provides power to 1/2 of your 120 outlets and the other "half" provides power to the other half of the 120 outlets, thus you can loose power to 1/2 of your house.

240 volt appliances need both "halves" to function properly.

You likely have a loose connection/fire hazard somewhere between the utility's transformer and where it feeds the side of the fuse box affected. It can be outside the house or inside the house. It could be the homeowner's responsibility or the utility's, it's anyone's guess.

Have it looked at and remind the landlord that if it isn't a fire could start. It's also not good for any of your electronic equipment. The complaint, I believe, should be in writing.

The description is a simple as "I'm intermittantly losing power to about 1/2 of the house for hours at a time. It's the same outlets each time.

Find a smarter electrician.

Perhaps this question really belongs in the rental law area. If the problem is inside the meter, it is your landlord's responsibility to have it fixed. If it is the meter or beyond, it is the landlord' s responsibility to make the power company fix it.

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Originally Posted by mharring

I need help. I live in a neighborhood in College Park, Md and I'm having electricity problems. Every once in a while my houses power will turn off for a few hours then come back on all of a sudden. The thing is it's not the whole house. Some of the basement, an outlet on the first floor, and an outlet on the second floor still work when this happens, which leads me to believe it's not a problem at the power lines (like a dumb electrician said). The house was made in the 60's and has a horrible wiring job. The things that do work when the power goes off are connected to a single breaker I believe, but this would mean the wiring in the house is worse than I thought. My landlord doesn't really seem to do anything and I'm worried that once winter comes I won't have heat. Someone please help.

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It could be a problem at the power lines (like the "dumb" electrician said). This just happened at a friend's house this summer. One of the two 110v feeds came loose at the utility pole. He called the power company and they promptly fixed the problem. I suggest you do the same. There is no charge for the power company to inspect the lines up to your meter. If they find no problem, ask the technician to recommend a reputable electrical contractor who can diagnose the problem inside the house.

First the outlets involved need to be determined if they are connected to one branch circuit breaker, If so, the problem can be with that one breaker, either defective or not plugged in correctly or the plug in connection is faulty.

Or, if one circuit, can be a loose connection anywhere in the circuit from the panel to the outlets.

If the outlets affected are more than one circuit, then can be the main breaker, or a connection of the main lines, either in the panel, meter, or out at the utility lines.

As Labman mentions, besides the mechanical aspect of this, the landlord is responsible for maintaining and repairing of the entire electrical system, including contacting the utility or electrician.

If the landlord is not interested in fulfilling his responsibility, then this is a legal issue. And the issue is greater than just insuring the heat will work during the winter. Any loose connection can be a fire hazard. You may be better served with contacting the local housing authority if the landlord choses not to have this corrected.

With Neutral open, voltage can go way high, To 240 volts. Getting bright lights or blown bulbs, is an indication.