Two Ways to Restore Electrical Power

AMERICAN CANYON — Power outages aren’t just annoying—in many cases, the problems they cause can be downright debilitating. Fortunately, if you know how, you can often restore power to your home yourself.

How to Reset a Circuit Breaker

One common cause of power loss is a tripped circuit breaker. In this instance, you can easily restore power to your home by resetting the tripped breaker. Simply locate the correct breaker on your electrical panel (breakers should be labeled to show which part of the home they correspond to) and reset it using a vigorous off-and-on movement. People sometimes have trouble resetting circuit breakers, but this is often because they haven’t pushed the switch all the way down and up again or exerted enough force. When done correctly, resetting a tripped circuit breaker should restore power to the corresponding area of your home.

How to Reset a GFI

In some cases, a power outage may be caused by a tripped ground fault interrupter (GFI). GFIs are special electrical outlets typically found in kitchens, bathrooms and other areas where water is present. While they don’t look much different than normal outlets, you’ll notice a couple of differences: a little green light and two small buttons in between the plug receptacles.

A GFI is designed to shut off power to an individual outlet when it senses a potential hazard. While this feature helps save lives, a GFI will sometimes trip unnecessarily. You can tell a GFI has tripped when the little green light has switched to red. When this happens, you can reset the GFI by pressing the RESET button in between the receptacles. You can also use the TEST button to make sure the GFI is functioning properly; after testing, press RESET to restore power.