Local. Licensed. On Call.

Based in Chilliwack, On Call Around the Clock.

Electricity is one of those quiet things you never think about until it stops. The lights are simply on and the furnace simply runs, right up until a windstorm rolls down the valley or a breaker starts tripping at eleven at night.

That's when it helps to have your Chilliwack emergency electrician close by. BDT Electric works out of Chilliwack, so a call from Promontory, Vedder, Yarrow, Greendale or Rosedale is a local drive, not a trip in from the coast. This page covers how to tell a real electrical emergency from one that can wait, what to do in the first few minutes, and what happens once you call.

Neighbourhoods we cover

Sardis Garrison Promontory Vedder Yarrow Greendale Rosedale

Emergency Line · Chilliwack

On call
24/7. Day, night, weekends and holidays. Call and tell us what you're seeing.

5.0 Google Rating 32 reviews on Google

Licensed & Insured Electrical Contractor LEL0210056

5+ Years in Business Based in Chilliwack · Fraser Valley wide

Call (604) 754-4344

Start Here

First, Is This an Electrical Emergency?

Most electrical problems announce themselves quietly, a flicker here, a dead outlet there. A few don't wait. The first thing worth knowing is which kind you're looking at, and who the right call actually is, because it isn't always us.

Call Us Right Away

A burning smell or scorch marks. Hot plastic near the panel, an outlet or a switch is never normal, even if everything still works.
A breaker that trips the moment you reset it. One trip can be an overload. An instant trip usually means a fault somewhere on that circuit.
A panel that's warm, buzzing or crackling. A panel should be cool and silent, and heat or sound means something inside is working too hard.
Half the house is dark while the neighbours have power. That pattern often points to a failing main breaker or a problem on your side of the meter.
Water near wiring. A leak dripping through a light fixture, a wet basement with outlets low on the wall, or a hot tub that suddenly won't stay on.
Sparks that don't stop. A tiny flash when you plug something in can be normal, and sparks that keep coming or leave a black mark are not.

Call Someone Else First

Here's the part people miss. Some emergencies belong to someone else, and calling them first gets help to you faster.

Fire, smoke, or someone shocked. Call 911 first. We come in after the fire department has made it safe.
A power line down on the street or in your yard. BC Hydro's advice is to stay back at least 10 metres and dial 911, and never touch or move the line.
The whole street is dark. That's a BC Hydro outage, not your wiring. Check the BC Hydro outage map or call 1 800 BCHYDRO (1 800 224 9376).
You smell gas. Leave the house, then call the FortisBC emergency line at 1-800-663-9911 or dial 911. Don't flip switches on the way out.

Who to call first, by what you're seeing.

A single dead outlet with no heat or smell, a GFCI that trips and resets fine, or a light that flickers only when the dryer starts can usually wait for a weekday visit. We're happy to book those as an ordinary service call, or as part of an electrical inspection if you'd like the whole house looked over.

Keep In Mind: an outage on your whole street is BC Hydro's job, and a problem only your house has is usually ours.

The First Few Minutes

What to Do While You Wait.

Once you've called, a few simple steps keep a bad situation from getting worse. None of them involve taking the panel cover off.

Remember: the safest thing you can do before we arrive is usually the simplest one, which is to switch it off, step back and let the problem sit still.

Switch off the affected breaker if it's safe to reach. If the panel is wet or hot, or you're standing in water, leave it alone.
Unplug what's on that circuit. Computers, TVs and anything with a motor are the most likely to be damaged when power comes back unevenly.
Keep the fridge and freezer closed. A closed fridge stays cold for hours, and you'll want that time if the repair needs parts.
Never plug a generator into a wall outlet. It can push power back out through your service toward crews working on the line, which is why a generator needs a proper transfer switch. Our generator installation guide explains how that's set up.
Note what happened just before. The appliance that was running, the storm, the sound you heard. It helps us find the cause faster.

Around Town

Emergencies We See Most Around Chilliwack.

Every town has its own pattern of calls. Ours follows the weather, the water and the age of the house.

Windstorms and Winter Outages

Fraser Valley storms bring down branches and lines, and the street can be dark for hours. When BC Hydro restores power, most homes come back without a hitch. Some don't, because the outage exposed a breaker or a connection that was already on its way out. If the street has power and part of your house still doesn't, that's the part we handle.

Water, Flood Season and Hot Tubs

Chilliwack knows flooding. In November 2021 the City issued an evacuation order for Yarrow as water spread across the Sumas Prairie. Technical Safety BC is clear that electrical equipment exposed to floodwater shouldn't be turned back on until a licensed contractor has looked at it, and that holds for a burst pipe in the basement as much as a river. Hot tubs are the other water call, especially in winter, when a breaker that keeps tripping can leave the tub to freeze. Our hot tub and sauna wiring page covers what a proper circuit looks like.

Older Panels Asked to Do More

Plenty of Chilliwack homes were wired long before heat pumps, EV chargers and induction ranges. A panel that's been fine for decades can start tripping or running warm once it's asked to carry more. Sometimes the emergency fix is a simple repair, and sometimes it's the first sign that a panel upgrade is worth planning before the next cold snap.

Think of it this way: most emergency calls are a small problem that finally got loud, and finding the cause is what keeps it from happening again.

Step by Step

What Happens When You Call.

An emergency call-out isn't complicated, and knowing the steps takes some of the stress out of it.

On the Phone

When you call (604) 754-4344, we'll ask what you're seeing, what's on the affected circuits, and whether anyone's at risk. If there's something you should switch off before we get there, we'll tell you right then.

At Your Door

The first job is making it safe, which usually means isolating the fault so the rest of the house can stay powered. Then we find the cause and fix it, or, if a part or a permit is needed, we make it safe tonight and come back for the rest. Regulated work in BC needs a licensed electrical contractor and, often, a permit through Technical Safety BC, and you'll get a straight explanation of what failed and why.

If your panel is showing any of these signs, don't sit with the worry. BDT Electric serves Chilliwack, Abbotsford and communities across the Fraser Valley, 24/7. Call us at (604) 754-4344, or see our full emergency electrical service for everything we cover.

Pricing

What Drives the Cost of an Emergency Call.

There's no honest single price for an emergency call, because the number is built from what we find when we get there.

Keep In Mind: the most expensive emergency is the one that comes back, which is why finding the cause matters more than resetting the breaker.

What actually failed. A tripped GFCI and a burnt main breaker are very different jobs.
Parts. Breakers, receptacles and panel parts vary, and older panels can need parts that take time to find.
Permits and inspection. Some repairs are regulated work that needs a permit, which adds a step.
Safe now, finished later. Sometimes the right call in the middle of the night is to make the circuit safe and finish the full repair in daylight.

Reviews

What Our Customers Say.

5.0 from 32 reviews on Google

"BDT Electric came to hook up the electrical for our hot tub. They were reliable, friendly, and I came home to find they did a few non-electrical related things to help with the hot tub set up. They went above and beyond with their service. I would highly recommend them."

"Super responsive to my needs and gets the work done at a good speed and good resolve. Always had a good experience working with BDT."

"We had BDT come by and put some dimmers and potlights in for us. Very friendly, very professional, very great to deal with. Highly recommend their work. Thank you for such great work."

We're Standing By

Making Sense of an Electrical Emergency.

You don't need to know whether it's the breaker, the wiring or the panel. What you need is someone licensed who'll find the cause, make it safe, and tell you plainly what happened.

When something in your Chilliwack home sparks, smells or won't stay on, BDT Electric is here 24/7. We'd rather take the call about a warm panel tonight than see it tomorrow as a burnt one. Reach us at (604) 754-4344 and let's get your lights back on.

Get a Free Quote

604.754.4344

Licensed Electrical Contractor · LEL0210056

Emergency Electrician in Chilliwack.