Replacing gas oven with electric - expensive?!

marvelman1985

Hi everyone,

I've been arranging a new oven for my Nan, replacing her gas one with an electric. It's an old house, 1950s, and although it has had a gas oven for years and years, there is a dated-looking box on the wall with a cooker switch. Basically I've called a tradesman in who took a look at it and posted my Nan this quote:

"upply and install a new supply cable for the cooker (Rated at 45A)
To be run around the top of the wall in the kitchen to an isolator to the left of the cooker.
Install and commission the cooker.
Upgrade the earth bonding to the water supply and the main earth connection.
Issue certificate.

The total cost will be £284.00 plus !VAT."

Seems very expensive to me, but I wanted to ask what you lot thought of it, being as I'm certainly no expert!

Cheers!

fluffpot

It sounds as if he's not going to reuse the old cooker supply - might be worth finding out why. It could be any number of plausible reasons, but best to check. A 45A supply is a big one it requires 10mm cable which is expensive and time consuming to run neatly. What power requirement is the new cooker? Does it need 45A?
Not sure where you are based, but I think the price sounds fair for say London.

If you're concerned, get another price

gas4you

Electricians have to make suyre the earthing is correct at a property before doing any other work.

Size of cable can depend on length of it as well as current being drawn. Overall I don't think that is too bad a price.

vturner

45A is the current requirement in the electrical regs for new build

The IEE regs are otherwise understood to be the book that allows electricians to justify every changing requirements to keep them in work.

Two main options for me in this case:

1/ Just buy a gas oven?

2/ If this was my Mothers house I would connect the oven to the 30Amp supply, be sure that the oven you buy is rated at 30Amp or Below, also be aware that most ovens are supplied with a plug and are as such under 13Amp rated so even connecting them to a 30Amp supply is arguebly dangerous and at least a case of over engineering the solution.

fluffpot

Length of cable in a domestic situation is negligible, gas4you.
Each install should be assessed individually, as vturner says, you may not need a 45A supply.
Tracking down a 13A oven you can plug into an existing circuit would be a cheap option.
If the existing 30A cooker supply tested out, the outlet could be converted into a 13A single socket and simple to plug the oven into this.

How much cooking does your granny do???