Half my house has no power
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Short answer
Check the breaker panel and any GFCI outlets first; a single tripped device explains most partial outages. If roughly half the circuits in the house are dead at once, or lights brighten and dim in opposite halves of the home, that pattern suggests a lost service leg or neutral — switch off sensitive equipment, call your utility, and have a licensed electrician involved for anything on the house side of the meter.
When part of a house loses power while the rest keeps working, the cause is almost always one of three things: a tripped breaker or GFCI, a failed circuit connection inside the home, or a lost service leg coming in from the utility. The last one — often described as a lost neutral or an open leg — can also cause dimming, flickering, and appliance damage, and it is a utility call rather than a homeowner one.
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Is this an emergency?
A tripped breaker feeding a bedroom is a routine problem. A lost service leg is different: voltage can swing high on one half of the home's circuits and low on the other, which damages electronics and motors and can overheat equipment. Lights that brighten in one room while dimming in another are the classic sign.
Call 911 and stay well clear if you see a downed line, arcing at the service drop, or smoke at the meter. Do not approach a downed conductor for any reason, and assume it is energized.
What should I do right now?
- Open the panel door and look for a breaker sitting between on and off. Reset it fully off, then on.
- Press Reset on GFCI outlets in bathrooms, kitchens, garages, laundry areas and outdoor locations — one GFCI often protects several downstream outlets in other rooms.
- Check whether neighbors have power. A whole-street outage is a utility event, not a house fault.
- If lights are dimming and brightening in opposite parts of the house, switch off and unplug computers, TVs and anything with a motor, then call the utility.
- Do not keep resetting a breaker that trips again immediately — that is the breaker protecting a fault.
What might cause this?
| Pattern | Likely cause | Who to call |
|---|---|---|
| One room or a few outlets dead | Tripped breaker, tripped GFCI, or a failed connection on that circuit | Electrician if resets do not restore it |
| Kitchen or bathroom outlets dead, lights fine | Upstream GFCI tripped | Homeowner reset, then electrician if it re-trips |
| About half the house dead | Lost service leg, failed main lug, or a bad breaker in a split panel | Utility first, then electrician |
| Lights dim in one area, brighten in another | Open neutral | Utility immediately; stop using equipment |
| Everything dead, neighbors fine | Main breaker, service drop or meter fault | Utility, then electrician |
| Started after a storm | Damaged drop, weather head or panel water intrusion | Utility first; electrician for house-side damage |
Who should I call first?
The dividing line is the meter. Everything from the utility's transformer up to and including the meter is the utility's responsibility; the weather head, service entrance conductors on some systems, the panel and everything past it is the homeowner's, and belongs to a licensed electrician.
When the whole side of a house drops out or the neutral looks open, call the utility first — they can confirm what is arriving at the meter, which decides whether an electrician has anything to fix.
South Florida considerations
After named storms, partial outages are common while the grid is restored in stages, and a house-side fault is easy to mistake for grid work still in progress. If neighbors are fully restored and you are still half-dark, the problem is more likely to be yours.
Salt air and wind-driven rain also take a toll on outdoor service equipment and meter enclosures, which is worth mentioning when you request help so the electrician arrives expecting exterior work.
What not to do
- Do not run the house on extension cords from the working half — circuits are protected for their own load, not for the rest of the home.
- Do not open the panel cover or touch the main lugs. The line side stays energized even with the main breaker off.
- Do not connect a portable generator to a wall outlet. Backfeeding is dangerous to you and to utility crews.
Getting help
Describe what is happening and UrgentHomePro will try to connect you with an available independent local provider. You decide whether to hire anyone who contacts you.
Frequently asked questions
Why do some outlets work and others don't in the same room?
Rooms are frequently split across more than one circuit, and kitchen or bathroom outlets are often downstream of a GFCI somewhere else in the house. One tripped device can darken outlets in several rooms.
Is a lost neutral dangerous?
It can be. Voltage on the two halves of the service becomes unbalanced, which can push high voltage into some circuits and damage equipment. Stop using sensitive equipment and contact the utility.
Will the utility come out for free?
Utilities generally investigate their own equipment up to the meter at no charge. Work on the house side of the meter is the homeowner's, and pricing is set by whichever independent electrician you hire.
Can a bad breaker cause this?
Yes. Breakers can fail closed, fail open, or fail intermittently, and a failed main or feeder breaker can take out a large part of a panel. An electrician can test it under load.
Sources
- Electrical safety in the home — Consumer Product Safety Commission
- Power outage safety — Ready.gov
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