Everything went off at once? Here is how to tell in two minutes whether it is TNB or your own board, and what to do next.
When the whole house goes dark, first look outside: if the neighbours and street lights are off too, it is a TNB supply interruption, and TNB's contact page gives 15454 for power outages or breakdowns. If only your house is dark, go to the distribution board. A tripped main switch or RCCB points at a fault inside the house; reset it once, and if it will not hold, leave it off and call an electrician. If nothing on the board has tripped and only you are dark, the fault may be at the main switch or on TNB's side of the meter, which only TNB may touch. A fault-finding call-out is RM150 – RM400 on ClickBina's guides (indicative 2026, Klang Valley).
Before you touch the board, look out of the window. Are the neighbours' lights on? The street lights? The guardhouse, the lift lobby, the shop across the road? ClickBina's emergency electrician guide calls this the question that saves the most wasted money: if the neighbours and the street lights are dark too, it is a supply interruption, not yours to repair, and not something a private electrician is permitted to touch.
If the whole area is dark, report it to TNB. TNB's own contact page says that for a power outage or breakdown you should call 15454. Then switch off the heavy appliances and wait.
| What you find | What it usually means | Who deals with it |
|---|---|---|
| Neighbours and street lights dark too | TNB supply interruption | TNB; call 15454 |
| Only you are dark; the main switch or RCCB at your board is down | A fault inside the house tripped the protection | You reset once; an electrician if it will not hold |
| Only you are dark; nothing on the board has tripped | Fault at the main switch, the incoming cable or TNB's side | An electrician to test; TNB if it is their side |
| Part of the house dark, rest fine, nothing tripped | Possible loss of one phase on a three-phase supply | An electrician first, then TNB |
| Power returns when reset, then trips again | Earth leakage or overload somewhere | Unplug and narrow it down, then an electrician |
| Burning smell or scorching at the board | A hot connection; fire risk | Main switch off; an electrician, do not reset |
ClickBina's dead circuit guide puts the difference simply: a power cut from TNB takes out everything, or in a three-phase house roughly a third of it, whereas a fault inside the house usually shows up as something tripped at the board.
Most Klang Valley homes have a distribution board, the DB box, with a main switch, one or more RCCBs (the earth-leakage devices with a test button) and a row of small breakers called MCBs, one for each circuit. The dead circuit guide describes the principle: a breaker opens the circuit automatically when it detects an overload or a short circuit, and the RCCB disconnects when current leaks to earth.
When the whole house is off because of a fault inside, it is usually the main switch or an RCCB that has dropped, because one of them sits in front of every circuit. When a single MCB drops, only one circuit goes dark, which is a different job.
ClickBina's power tripping guide keeps the safe DIY zone short: reset the tripped device once; if it holds with everything unplugged, the fault is in an appliance, so plug things back in one at a time; if it will not hold, or you smell burning or see scorching, stop and call an electrician. For a whole-house trip, a careful sequence looks like this:
The same guide warns against the dangerous shortcut: never let anyone make the tripping stop by bypassing the RCCB or fitting a bigger breaker. The device is tripping because something is wrong.
This is the case that confuses people. The board looks normal, the neighbours have power, and your house is dead. The problem is then between the street and your main switch: a failed main switch or a loose connection at it, the cable from the meter to the board, or TNB's own equipment, the service cable, the cut-out fuse or the meter.
Do not open or touch the meter or the cut-out. TNB's FAQ is explicit that any changes to TNB's meter or fuse are strictly prohibited, even by a contractor. An electrician can test at your board and tell you which side the fault is on; if it is TNB's side, report it to TNB.
Larger landed homes often have a three-phase supply, with circuits spread across the three phases. The dead circuit guide explains that if one phase is lost, all the circuits on it go dead at once, often a scattered mix of rooms, while the rest of the house works and nothing on the board has tripped. The lost phase can be inside the house or on TNB's side. ClickBina's three-phase power guide explains how the phases are split.
If short outages are a regular problem for your router, CCTV or a home office, ClickBina's home UPS guide explains how to keep the essentials running.
Turn appliances back on gradually rather than all at once. If the RCCB trips as soon as the supply returns, something was damaged or got wet, often a water heater or an outdoor fitting after a storm, and the power tripping guide's narrowing-down steps apply. If lights flicker, sockets feel warm or anything smells hot after an outage, switch that circuit off and have it checked.
If the fault is TNB's, you do not pay a private electrician to fix it. If it is inside the house, these are the related prices published on ClickBina's guides (indicative 2026, Klang Valley).
| Work | Indicative price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fault-finding / diagnosis call-out | RM150 – RM400 | Tracing the leak or overload to its source |
| Replace a faulty RCCB or MCB | RM250 – RM600 | Where the protective device itself has failed |
| Basic call-out / minor repair | RM80 – RM250 | A faulty switch, socket or simple fitting |
| Replace or upgrade the distribution board | RM1,500 – RM3,500 | New board, RCCB, MCBs, re-termination and testing |
WhatsApp us your job details for a quote — we reply within the hour.
💬 WhatsApp for a quoteAfter-hours attendance is priced separately; the emergency electrician guide explains what an after-hours call-out covers and what it does not.
The emergency electrician guide notes that work on fixed wiring, on the distribution board and on the incoming supply must be carried out by or under the supervision of a competent person registered with Suruhanjaya Tenaga.
WhatsApp us your job details for a quote: whether the neighbours have power, what you see at the board (main switch, RCCB or nothing tripped), and what happened just before. If it is a TNB supply problem, we will tell you to report it to TNB. ClickBina is an experienced KL & Selangor contractor for whole-house refurbishment and trade coordination, so when the fault turns out to be part of a bigger rewiring or board upgrade, the work can be planned together. We reply within the hour, and the price we agree is a flat price with no hidden charges. A site visit is RM150, waived if you go ahead.
How we estimated prices: every RM figure on this page is quoted unchanged from the ClickBina guides named above; they are indicative Klang Valley ranges for 2026.
WhatsApp us your job details for a quote — we reply within the hour.
💬 WhatsApp for a quoteTell us what you need — we reply within the hour.