The lights come back on, and the first feeling is relief, which is exactly right. In most homes that is the end of it, but a few systems do not always come back the way they went off. Power that flickers while the utility restores lines, or returns at low voltage, is hard on motors and control boards. A day or two without electricity also leaves several systems in a state they were not designed to sit in. This is a calm walk-through of what to look at once the power is on, and how to tell what needs a call with a professional
Safety first, then the panel
Before anything else, notice what you smell and hear. If you smell gas anywhere in or around the house, leave, keep the door open, and call the gas utility from outside. A burning or hot plastic smell at the panel, an outlet, or a piece of equipment means turning that breaker off and leaving it off. Standing water near any appliance or the panel is a reason to stay clear until it is gone, which after a coastal storm is not unusual.
If none of that is present, open the panel and look for tripped breakers. Surges during restoration will trip breakers, and resetting one is perfectly fine. A breaker that trips again as soon as you reset it is protecting a circuit with a fault, and that circuit should stay off until one of our electricians has looked. Because Russell’s American Mechanical handles electrical work alongside heating, cooling, and plumbing, one post-storm visit can cover the panel and the equipment. If several electronics died when the power returned, that points to a surge, and it is a good moment to ask about whole-home surge protection, which sits at the panel and takes the hit next time.
Bringing the heating or cooling back
Give the system a few minutes before judging it, since air conditioners and heat pumps have a built-in delay after power returns so the compressor does not restart under pressure. If the thermostat is still blank after those few minutes, try fresh batteries and check the breaker for the air handler. Then set the thermostat a few degrees past room temperature and listen at the outdoor unit for a steady hum with the fan turning. A hum with no fan, a repeating click, or a unit that starts and stops within a minute points to a capacitor, contactor, or control board that took a hit, and those are common calls after a storm. If the system runs but the house is no cooler or warmer an hour later, our air conditioning repair and heating teams can find out why. After a nor’easter or an ice storm, also make sure the outdoor unit is not encased in ice or sitting in water.
The water heater and the pumps
An electric water heater usually comes back on its own, but some units have a high-limit reset behind the access panel that trips after a power event. If there is still no hot water an hour later, let us check that rather than opening the panel yourself. A gas heater with electronic ignition relights on its own, while a standing-pilot unit may need relighting per the label on the tank. Give the tank an hour to recover and look at the floor around its base, since pressure swings during an outage can turn a small drip into a visible one. If your home is on a well, run a cold tap for a minute or two once the pump has power; air in the lines clears quickly, but pressure that will not build means the tank or switch needs attention. If you have a sump pump, it sat idle while the storm dumped rain and the tide rose, so the pit may be full. Lift the float or pour water in to confirm it runs, and if it does not, our sump pump team can get to it before the next rain.
The generator, if one carried you through
If a standby generator carried you through, it handles the return to utility power on its own, running a short cooldown and settling back to standby. What it cannot do is service itself, and a multi-day outage uses up a large part of the interval between oil changes. Note the hours it ran and check the controller for any fault it logged, and if it ran for more than a day or two, schedule generator service rather than waiting for the yearly visit. Salt spray from the storm also leaves residue on the enclosure, so a rinse is worthwhile. A portable generator should be shut down, cooled completely, then refueled and stored with the fuel treated or drained, since stale gasoline is the usual reason one will not start next time.
The refrigerator and freezer
USDA guidance keeps this part simple. A closed refrigerator holds a safe temperature for about four hours, a full freezer for about 48 hours, and a half-full freezer for about 24. Anything in the refrigerator that spent more than four hours above 40 degrees should go; frozen food with ice crystals can be refrozen, and fully thawed food should not be. It is a loss, but a smaller one than getting sick would be.
When to give us a call
Most of what this turns up will be fine. The rest sorts into a few categories worth a call rather than a wait: a system that will not restart, a breaker that keeps tripping, a burning smell, water where it should not be, a well pump that will not build pressure, or a generator fault. Russell’s American Mechanical has served Hampton Roads since 1977, and in the days after a storm we arrange same-day appointments by phone as the schedule allows, with our answering service taking calls after hours. Members of the Premium Home Care Agreement receive priority response when a covered system fails.