Call an emergency electrician at (773) 721-1111 when power is out, a panel is hot, or you see sparks, smoke, or shock. STS Electric is a 24 hour electrician and 24/7 electrician for homes, businesses, and industrial sites. After-hours calls go to an on-call supervisor who dispatches a licensed tech. Electrical emergency service is dispatched from 939 W North Ave #746.
Scheduled Chicago electrician work still starts on our homepage. This page is for night, weekend, and same-day hazard calls.
If there is smoke or flame, leave and call 911 first.
What Counts as an Electrical Emergency
Treat it as urgent if people or the building are at risk, or if you have lost power you cannot restore from a reset breaker.
Call 24/7 for:
- No power in the whole building, or half the lights and outlets dead
- Burning smell, smoke, or heat at an outlet, switch, or panel
- Sparks, arcing, or a shock from a device
- A panel that keeps tripping, buzzing, or running hot
- Exposed or damaged service or branch wiring
- Water at a panel, meter, or flooded basement with live circuits
- Storm damage on your side of the meter after ComEd restores the block
Do not wait those out. Loose connections and overloaded gear can heat without tripping a breaker.
What Is Not a 24 Hour Call
Book electrical repair service for work that can wait until the next business window: a single dead receptacle with the rest of the house on, adding outlets, or a fixture swap.
Mild on-off strobing on one lamp belongs on flickering lights in home. House-wide brightness changes belong on why house lights dim. Heat, smell, or sparks with those symptoms still come here.
Inspection notes and non-urgent code items are not emergency dispatch.
What to Do Before We Arrive
Stay out of the panel and the meter.
- If you can reach the main breaker safely, shut it off when you smell burning or see arcing
- Leave the building if you see smoke or fire and call 911
- Tell us the address, which rooms are dark, whether neighbors are out, and if water is near equipment
- Do not keep resetting a breaker that trips at once
- Do not dry a wet panel or pull the meter
A short phone video of the panel door (closed) and the symptoms helps the truck stock the right gear.
24 Hour Electrician and 24/7 Electrician Dispatch
The same number works at 2 a.m., on Sunday, and on holidays: (773) 721-1111. A 24/7 electrician is on call. We do not quote a fake minute count because traffic, storms, and ComEd hold times vary. We do route the call as soon as we have the address and the hazard.
- Intake. Dispatcher logs location, symptoms, occupancy, and whether 911 is already involved.
- Dispatch. An on-call supervisor sends a licensed electrician with meters, PPE, and common service and breaker stock.
- Stabilize. We isolate the fault, kill unsafe circuits, and stop further damage.
- Restore or make safe. If a permanent repair is in scope and parts are on the truck, we complete it. If the utility owns the drop, we document the handoff. If the job needs a permit or a panel replacement, we make the site safe and schedule the follow-up.
Permits apply when Chicago Department of Buildings rules require them for the repair scope. We pull those when the work is on us.
Electrical Emergency Service: Full Outage, Half Power, After a Storm
Electrical emergency service is often a restoration problem, not a new install.
Whole-building outage. If neighbors are dark, start with ComEd. If only your building is dark, the fault is often the main breaker, the service cable, the meter fitting, or a failed connection on the load side. We test at the meter and the main disconnect before we open branch circuits.
Half power. Lights and outlets on one side of the house die while 240 volt loads may still run, or one floor is dead. That pattern often means a lost hot leg, a failed main, or a loose service connection. It can also be a loose or failing neutral. Do not keep cycling large loads to “test” it.
After a storm, ComEd is back, you are not. Utility restoration does not prove your panel, mast, or branch wiring survived. We check your side, isolate damaged paths, and restore what is safe. Generator planning and transfer equipment live on emergency power systems, not on this call unless backup wiring is the hazard.
Related symptom checks: troubleshooting common electrical issues and finding electrical emergencies.
ComEd or an Emergency Electrician
Call ComEd first when the whole block is out, a line is down in the street, or the outage map shows your transformer. Call STS first when only your house or unit is affected, you have heat or smell, or power returned to neighbors and not to you.
ComEd owns the path to the meter. You own the load side of the service equipment. We measure both legs and tell you who opens what. We do not remove the utility meter.
Guidance we follow on warning signs: Electrical Safety Foundation International and NFPA. Chicago permit and inspection rules sit with the Department of Buildings.
Residential, Commercial, and Industrial Calls
Homes and two-flats. Aging services, wet basements, overheated devices, and mains that will not reset. For a hot receptacle see warm outlet or burning smell. Planned residential work sits on licensed residential electrician.
Businesses. Retail, restaurants, offices, and multi-unit buildings that cannot operate without power, lighting, or refrigeration. We stabilize first so you are not open on an unsafe feed. See commercial electrical services for booked commercial work.
Industrial and warehouse. Distribution failures, damaged equipment wiring, and overloads that shut production. Higher fault current means we treat the site as energized until we prove it is not.
Where We Dispatch
Trucks run from 939 W North Ave #746 across the North Side, the West Side, and nearby Cook County. Typical urgent jobs include Lincoln Park and Lakeview two-flats, Logan Square and Humboldt Park bungalows, Near West and West Loop commercial, and close-in suburbs on the same ComEd network.
Tell us the neighborhood and whether you are a house, condo, or storefront so we send the right access and lockbox notes.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does an emergency electrician handle?
An emergency electrician handles hazards and outages you should not leave overnight: no power, half power, burning smell, sparks, shock, a hot panel, or water on live equipment. Planned upgrades and extra outlets go on a booked repair visit.
Do you have a 24 hour electrician and a 24/7 electrician on call?
Yes. Night, weekend, and holiday calls use (773) 721-1111. After-hours traffic goes to an on-call supervisor who dispatches a licensed electrician. We stay on the line until we know whether the fault is yours or ComEd’s.
How fast can you get here?
We dispatch as soon as intake is complete. Arrival depends on traffic, storm load, and whether the utility must drop the service first. We will not invent a minute guarantee. We will tell you the next step before we hang up.
Should I call ComEd or STS?
Call ComEd if neighbors are out or a line is down. Call STS if the problem is only your building, or if you have heat, smell, sparks, or shock. If you are unsure, call us and we will sort the handoff.
What if only half the house has power?
That is still an electrical emergency service call. One lost leg or a bad service connection can over-voltage equipment on the live side. Shut large loads down if you can do it safely, and wait for testing at the meter and the main.
Can you restore power after a storm?
If ComEd has restored the street and your panel or wiring failed, yes. We isolate damaged circuits and restore what is safe. If the drop or meter is still dead, the utility has to move first, and we document what is on your side.
Do you serve commercial and industrial sites at night?
Yes. The same 24/7 electrician roster covers stores, restaurants, offices, and industrial spaces. Tell dispatch if refrigeration, life safety lighting, or production is down so we send the right access notes and stock.
Call for Electrical Emergency Repair
STS Electric is a licensed, insured Chicago electrical contractor. Emergency repairs follow NEC and City of Chicago Department of Buildings rules, and we pull permits when the scope requires them. For electrical emergency repair, call (773) 721-1111. Dispatch is 24/7 from 939 W North Ave #746.
