Outlets, Switches & Lighting

An upstream GFCI tripped. One GFCI can protect a chain of ordinary receptacles downstream of it — bathroom, garage, kitchen counter, sometimes an exterior outlet on the same run. When the chain goes dead, the reset button is often in another room entirely, which is why "all the outlets on that wall" is such a frequent description.

A back-stabbed connection failed. Cheap devices accept a wire pushed into a hole in the back rather than wrapped around a screw. It works for twenty years and then it does not, usually at the point in the chain carrying the most load. The dead outlets are the ones after the failure, not the failed one itself.

A loose neutral. Lights that brighten and dim in opposition on two different circuits, or electronics that behave strangely across the house, point at the shared side of the circuit rather than the hot one. This is the one on this page that is not a small job by default and not a wait-and-see item either.

The device wore out. Plugs that fall out of the slot, a switch that has to be held at an angle, a dimmer that hums under load: these are consumables, and forty-year-old ones are past their term.

Fixture replacement is the most common "while you are here" job in San Jose, and the two things that determine the price are ceiling height and what is in the box. A fixture swap on an eight-foot ceiling with a modern box and a ground present is a short job. A heavy pendant or a ceiling fan on a box that was never rated to carry weight is a different one — the box has to be replaced with a fan-rated one, which means working from above or opening the ceiling. Recessed cans converted to LED and old dimmers driving new LED loads make up most of the rest: the flicker people blame on the bulbs is usually a dimmer that was designed for filament.

Published San Jose prices for the contained versions of these jobs: $165–$195 to replace a standard outlet, dimmer or switch, $195–$225 for a GFCI, $185–$245 to replace a ceiling or wall fixture, and $245–$325 to put a fan where a fixture was on an eight-to-ten-foot ceiling. Statewide surveys put a straight outlet swap at $120–$300 and a GFCI at $130–$300, which is the same picture with more of the country in it. Add the diagnostic component if the reason it is dead is not yet known — see diagnostics.

Replacing a device with the same kind of device does not normally require a permit in San Jose. Adding a receptacle where there was none, running a new circuit for one, or putting an outlet outdoors or in a location that now requires GFCI or AFCI protection is new work, and new work is permitted work. The distinction is not academic: unpermitted electrical work is the kind of thing an insurer raises after a claim, and a buyer's inspector raises before a sale.

The device with the plate on; the same device from a step back so the room and the other outlets are in frame; the panel door open with the label visible; and the bathroom, garage and kitchen GFCIs if you can find them — including whether their buttons are in or out.