How to wire in a new electric cooker..?

Help! I'm a newbie here and a novice DIY-er (as is my husband). My oven is dying by inches, and as I can't face more burnt biscuits and undercooked stews at Christmas time I've pushed the boat out and bought a new one. I found the model I wanted online from the Co-Op electricals much cheaper than at Comet and have ordered it (it's arriving on Tuesday), but they don't offer a fitting service. It's a built in double oven model, replacing a built in single oven which is also electric. I didn't think we could legally wire this in ourselves, but a friend has told me that if there's an existing cooker circuit its OK. Anyone know if this is true, and what's involved in wiring in a cooker?
«13

Comments

  • I am a bit confused here, have you purchased an oven or a cooker?

    If you have purchased a double oven to replace a single oven then you may be in for a shock as the double oven may require a dedicated circuit.

    A single electric oven can normally be wired to a plug and plugged into a socket, if you have a dedicated circuit there already then this will need checking to ensure it can carry the load of the new oven.

    If you have an electric hob, then this circuit is normally used to feed both the hob and the oven, in which case you should be ok, but still get the thickness of wire checked.

    You can get some information from here-

    Electric cooker circuits


    Replcaing an electric oven

    Hope this helps a little
  • bigdic
    bigdic Posts: 245
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    WW is quite correct, we replaced a single oven with a double oven and the spark had to install a new circuit to take the load.

    If this is the case you'll need a certificate from an eletrician to confirm the work has been checked and is safe.
  • Sorry for the confusion, I used the words "cooker" and "oven" interchangably - there's no hob, it's a double oven that fits into a kitchen unit (or in our case the old chimney breast). Looks like we need to get hold of a sparks pretty quick if I'm to use it for Christmas dinner!!
    Those links were great though, really clear instructions, thanks weekendwarrior!
  • Cypher
    Cypher Posts: 440 Forumite
    If the oven is under 3KW it can be wired on a standard 13Amp plug top.
    I'd check if your existing oven is like this, I'm pretty much certain a double oven will be over 3KW and so it will need to be hard wired into a cooker circuit.

    Is your hob also electric ?
    Do you have an exisiting cooker circuit ?
    Do you know what current your cooker circuits, fuse or circuit breaker is rated for ?
  • deanos
    deanos Posts: 11,219
    First Post First Anniversary Uniform Washer
    Forumite
    We changed a single oven thet ran off a a normal plug to a double oven and had to get the socket changed lucklily the neighbour is a sparky and it only cost £10 for parts but definately dont use a normal plug and just plug it into a socket or the cable will melt
  • Cypher wrote:
    Is your hob also electric ?
    Do you have an exisiting cooker circuit ?
    Do you know what current your cooker circuits, fuse or circuit breaker is rated for ?

    Thanks everyone for your comments and help.\

    The hob is gas, and is on the other side of the kitchen so it shouldn't affect this at all.
    There is an existing electric cooker which was installed by Comet, so I'm assuming that there is an existing cooker circuit but I don't know anything about electrics!
    I don't know what current current anything is rated for, the existing oven was the absolute cheapest we could find as we'd just moved house and had absolutely no money when the last one packed up. It replaced a gas oven which had been built into the same position.
    Our usual (trusted) electrician is booked up until the New Year and I'd like to get it in next week if at all possible. I'm hoping that we can take a chance on a Sparks out of the phone book on the basis that it's not a huge job and I know my house wiring is sound so I'm not going to fall prey to someone trying to create work! Does anyone who has had this done at "market rates" remember roughly how much it cost? If necessary I'm prepared to cough up a bit extra to have it done quickly as I'd really like to be able to do some baking with my son for Christmas, but it's useful to have a rough idea what the usual cost is!
  • Samphire wrote:
    but I don't know anything about electrics!
    I don't know what current current anything is rated for,


    Please get an expert to fit it, regardless of the cost (should be around £50ish)
  • Thanks Nomoneytoday. Don't worry, I'm definately getting an expert to fit it, the only question is whether I wait until our usual electrician has the time to do it or use another sparks from the phonebook. I've asked other locals for recomendations and haven't had any! Having been comprehensively stitched up by a heating engineer pulled at random from the phone book when we bought our first house I always like to have a feel for what a job should cost before talking to tradesmen who haven't been recomended.
  • Cypher
    Cypher Posts: 440 Forumite
    If you have a cooker circuit you should be able to see the big red isolation switch on the wall. If not then the chances are its connected via a 13A plugtop plugged into a standard socket.

    You could also look in your consumer unit (fusebox) to see if there is a dedicated circuit for the cooker.
  • flang
    flang Posts: 1,094 Forumite
    I always say if you dont already know how to do it dont do it!
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 342.2K Banking & Borrowing
  • 249.8K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 449.3K Spending & Discounts
  • 234.4K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 606.7K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 172.7K Life & Family
  • 247.2K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 15.8K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards