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Laval · 24 h / 7 days
Part of the house without power, a main breaker that won’t reset, a burning smell at the panel: a master electrician from STM-Électrique is at your home in 90 minutes or less, from Sainte-Rose to Pont-Viau, day or night.
4.9469 Google reviewsBefore you call
A good share of night-time calls in Laval are settled over the phone. Before concluding it’s an emergency, do these checks, in order. If one of them makes you uneasy, skip it and call.
A burning smell, a panel that’s hot to the touch, crackling, a blackened outlet: don’t do any of these checks. Switch off the main breaker if you can do so safely and call 438 542-7304.
Understanding the outage
A house is supplied at 240 volts by two 120-volt conductors. If one of the two is lost, at the service entrance, at the mast or at the main breaker, half the outlets and lights go out. The range, dryer, water heater and baseboard heaters, which need both, stop working or heat at half power. It’s an emergency: the connection involved can overheat. The cause can also be on the grid: call us, we’ll tell you during the call.
The main breaker has tripped, or the problem is in your service entrance. If the main breaker trips again as soon as it’s reset, a fault is still present somewhere in the house. Resetting it over and over wears it out and fixes nothing.
When the lighting in the whole house dims as an appliance starts, or some bulbs shine brighter than usual, a connection is loose, often the neutral. Appliances can receive too high a voltage and burn out. Call without waiting.
What we see in Laval
Laval doesn’t have just one type of house. The city was born in 1965 from the merger of 14 municipalities, and each former village kept its character. The outages we repair there therefore change from one neighbourhood to the next.
Chomedey, Vimont, Auteuil, Fabreville
The original panel starts to heat up, breakers trip as soon as one more appliance is plugged in, or the main breaker won’t reset anymore. Some Federal Pioneer Stab-Lok panels are known to be risky (in French): if you have one and it shows signs of weakness, we make it safe right away.
Laval-des-Rapides, Pont-Viau, Saint-Vincent-de-Paul
Several meters and several panels on the same service entrance. When a single unit loses power, or the lights dim throughout the building, you have to find which circuit is involved before touching the rest.
Sainte-Rose, Laval-sur-le-Lac, Laval-Ouest, Îles-Laval, Saint-François
Tall trees and ice storms bring branches down on the wires entering the house. A bent or torn-off mast, a cracked meter base: it’s an urgent repair, and it’s the owner’s responsibility.
Around Montmorency metro station, Sainte-Dorothée
Fewer wear-and-tear outages, but heavily loaded circuits: an EV charger, a heat pump or a cooktop that trips a breaker over and over, or a whole unit without power.
20-second diagnosis
Have your neighbours lost power too?
Do you see smoke, flames, a burning smell or an electrical wire on the ground?
At your place, what has stopped working?
Likely grid outage
It’s probably a Hydro-Québec outage.
An electrician can’t do anything about it: check the outage status and the expected restoration time with Hydro-Québec. If power comes back at your neighbours’ but not at your place, take the test again.
Check outages on Hydro-Québec’s siteDanger
Get out and call 911.
Smoke, flames or a burning smell: leave the premises with everyone. Electrical wire on the ground: stay at least 10 metres away and don’t touch it, even with an object. Once the area is safe, STM can do the repair.
Call 911Then call STM: 438 542-7304Problem at your place
The problem is probably in your service entrance or your panel.
If the main breaker has tripped and won’t go back up, don’t force it: the fault is still there. It’s a job for a master electrician.
90 minutes or less to get to your place, 24 hours a day.
Call STM: 438 542-7304Supply problem
You’re probably missing 240 V.
Often, the dryer, the range or the heating stops working. The cause can be at your place or on the grid: call us, we’ll tell you during the call. If it’s the grid, Hydro-Québec asks to be notified at 1 800 790-2424.
90 minutes or less to get to your place, 24 hours a day.
Call STM: 438 542-7304Problem at your place
A circuit, a breaker or a connection is involved.
If a breaker trips again as soon as it’s reset, or if an outlet heats up or turns black, don’t insist: leave that breaker in the off position until we arrive.
90 minutes or less to get to your place, 24 hours a day.
Call STM: 438 542-7304Mast, meter base, meter
Hydro-Québec supplies and installs its service connection up to the connection point, on your house. Everything after it is part of your installation: the mast, the meter base, the wiring to the panel. So it’s a master electrician who replaces them, not Hydro-Québec.
After a storm in Laval, it’s often the first call we get: a mast torn off by a branch, hanging wires. If a wire is on the ground, stay away and call 911. Once the area is safe, we repair your part of the installation and tell you what Hydro-Québec has to do on its side to reconnect you.
Source: Hydro-Québec, Conditions of Service, section 8.2.2. The details are in our guide Mast, meter base, meter: who pays for what.
Season by season
Freezing rain and heavy snow break branches onto the service wires and bend masts. Inside, baseboard heaters run flat out in extreme cold: a heating breaker that keeps tripping, or a thermostat turning black, is a sign of a connection that’s overheating.
Snowmelt and floods on the Rivière des Prairies and the Rivière des Mille Îles flood waterfront basements. If water got into your home, don’t restore the power yourself: Hydro-Québec asks that a master electrician check the installation first.
Storms trip breakers and damage appliances. Air conditioners and heat pumps all starting at the same time load older panels until they trip.
Strong winds tear off weakened branches. A twisted mast or hanging wires after a storm: stay away, call 911 if a wire touches the ground, then call for the repair of your service entrance.
Switch off the main breaker only if the floor is completely dry around the panel, your hands, feet and shoes are dry, and you’re not touching any metal object. Stand beside the panel, not in front of it. Otherwise, don’t touch anything and get out without touching the water: Hydro-Québec can cut the power remotely at 1 800 790-2424. Once the water is gone, a master electrician checks the installation before the power is restored.
Source: Hydro-Québec, Flooding and electrical safety (in French).
When to call
Get out and call 911 if there is smoke. Don’t open the panel again.
Or it trips again as soon as it’s reset. Don’t force it: the fault is still there.
Some rooms work, others don’t, often the range or the dryer too.
Stop using it and switch off its breaker if you can find it.
After a storm, a tree or ice. Repairing the meter base is the owner’s responsibility.
In the whole house at the same time, not just for a second when an appliance starts.
Everywhere in Laval
We respond in each of the 14 neighbourhoods that made up the former municipalities of Île Jésus and the Îles Laval, day or night.
The 14 former municipalities merged in 1965: City of Laval, municipal merger.
How it works
We ask you three or four questions to find out whether it’s dangerous. If there is smoke or a wire on the ground, we first tell you to call 911.
What to switch off, what not to touch, and how to keep the fridge and the heating safe until we arrive.
A master electrician finds the source of the problem: panel, circuit, service entrance or mast. They explain what they found before repairing.
The repair is done on site when possible. Otherwise, the installation is made safe and we plan the next steps with you.
Frequently asked questions
In 90 minutes or less, anywhere in Laval, day or night, 7 days a week.
Call us first at 438 542-7304. If your neighbours have power and you don’t, the problem is probably in your installation (panel, service entrance or mast): it’s a job for an electrician. If the whole street is dark, it’s a grid outage: its status is on Hydro-Québec’s website, and we’ll tell you during the call. The diagnosis higher up on this page helps you decide in 20 seconds.
Hydro-Québec is responsible for its service connection up to the connection point. The mast, the meter base and the wiring after it are part of the owner’s installation, who calls a master electrician to repair them.
Yes. STM-Électrique responds to emergencies in Laval’s houses, plexes, condos and businesses.
If you can do it safely, switch off the main breaker. If there is smoke, flames or water near the panel, don’t touch it: get out and call 911.
Not you. Hydro-Québec asks that you not restore the electricity yourself after water damage and that you have the installation checked by a master electrician. We inspect the panel, the outlets and the appliances the water reached, replace what needs to be replaced, then restore the power.
Not always, but never replace it with a bigger breaker: it protects the wire, not the appliance. If the breaker trips again right away, if it’s hot or if the thermostat turns black, a connection is overheating somewhere on the circuit. Then, it’s an emergency.
Not an emergency? For planned work, see our page electrician in Laval or electrical panel replacement in Laval. All our emergency areas are on the 24/7 emergency electrician page.
24/7 emergency line
A master electrician at your place in 90 minutes or less, day and night.
Your contact details and three quick questions. For an emergency in progress, call 438 542-7304 instead: it’s faster.