Regardless if you’re working from home, relaxing with your favorite TV show, or enjoying central AC inside of your home, when the power suddenly goes out it is an immediate wake-up call from anything you’re doing. When you lose electricity in your multifamily home, the first thing to do is to reach out to the managers of the property but living in Texas, is this the right step to take? How do you ensure that this is a short time outage or a long term? Where do you go for helpful tips and contact information for your location? These are all common questions and concerns that we will discuss to assist you in what to do when you lose electricity in your apartment. Keep reading to learn some great tips for multifamily living when the power goes out.
Talking to Owners/Managers
As a resident, it can be extremely frustrating and worrisome when your power goes out, especially during the hot Texan summer months. If this is a recurring issue, you may want to consider reaching out to the Property Managers and letting them know that you’ve experienced this multiple times so that they know that it’s not just a one-time issue.
Alternatively, if this is the first time that this has happened to you, your best bet is to reach out to your electricity provider to see if they are aware of the outage. More often than not, if it’s a one-time issue, it’s an outage, whereas an outage that happens often (like for heavy winds, for example) may require your Property Manager to have a general contractor take a look and ensure that this repeated outage isn’t a maintenance and/or safety issue that could cause bigger problems as time passes for the residents and for the building(s).
Talking to Residents
When your power goes out it can be a scary experience, especially if you have young kids who may be afraid of the dark. Your first thought is probably to get every flashlight or candle you have ready and get as much light going as you can. However, this may not be the best approach, particularly since candles aren’t always the safest option. Instead what we recommend is that you take a second to access the situation, go outside and see if only your unit has been affected or if your neighbors are without power as well. If you find that it is only your unit then contact your office or on-site maintenance personnel to have them come out and see what’s going on. If you find that your entire build or complex has been affected then your next step is to check with your power company. Many of them how outage checkers as a way to report the outage in your area. Be sure to always report an outage in your area even if they already know as the more reports they get the more they’ll know how dire the need is. Lastly, just do your best to relax and wait out the situation.
Helpful Links & Contact Info
If you live in an apartment, condo, or HOA community and your electricity happen to go out, here is a quick list of items to check, and places to find information.
1. Check in with neighbors and look outside for street lights and other electric items to see if only your unit is affected, or whether the entire block or community is affected.
2. Look at your breaker box for any tripped breakers. Sometimes they are tripped, but the switch is not moved very far and might be easily missed!
3. Check your email or community bulletin board for notices about electric repairs. Sometimes these notices go to spam, so don’t forget to check there!
4. If you’re a Texas resident check Oncor’s Outage Tracker to see if your area is affected by a storm or other large outage. If it’s not reported, use that page to make a report to get power restored as soon as possible.
5. If you’re not a Texas resident, check your area’s main electrical provider for outage listings or your electric company’s main website.
Now you know the best tips for multifamily living and what steps to take whether you are an apartment manager, owner, or resident when you lose electricity in your apartment. Reach out to our Classic team today for general maintenance contract work and we can also help you find the best maintenance plan when it comes to your multifamily property when you find yourself in the unfortunate situation of an outage.