We have no power to our downstairs bedroom. We had the lights on, and a heater plugged in to the outlet. A family member turned off the heater, and unplugged it from the outlet. When she unplugged it, the lights went out in the room, and we can’t get power back. The hallway is on the same circuit, and the lights and power in the hallway are fine. It’s only the back half of the house that has lost power. In the bedroom with no power, there are two switches, each controlling separate light fixtures (both are dark), and one outlet, which was what got unplugged to start this mess. Here’s what I have tried so far:
- Reset the breakers.
- Swapped out the outlet with a new outlet.
- Checked all outlets and switches with a pen-style volt tester. They all indicate that they have power, and the switches seem to be functioning (tester confirms on-off). The only thing I haven’t tested are the light fixtures.
I opened the switch box which contains the switches for both the bathroom (operating) and the bedroom (dark), and the switch arrangement looks really suspect to me. Picture attached.
Best Answer
Since you state, "When she unplugged it, the lights went out in the room," this seems like the inductive "kick" caused by breaking the circuit caused the issue, rather than overload from the heater.
Look for a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI or GFI) like that in the image below. These outlets are designed to help prevent electric shock, but are also sensitive to sudden surges. Since they're usually specified in wet locations, the outlet might be in a basement or bathroom, but wired to provide protection in the bedroom.