Wiring electric oven & hob

monkeyboy72

Hi

If you have a built in electric oven and a electric hob but only 1 power lead from the cooker point then which of the 2 should it power?

The reason I ask is a friend is reffiting his kitchen and is due to replace the current electric oven and hob with new ones but the hob is wired into the cooker point but the oven is just plugged into a standard wall socket, would it be possible to split the power lead to supply both or will a new curcuit be required to power the oven?

thanks

YorkshireBoy

The heaviest electrical load is the hob - can be 6 or 7KW in some cases.

It's normal for the modern "built-under" ovens to come with relatively small cable flex and be plugged into 13A sockets, or hard-wired into "fused connection units", mounted inside the adjacent cupboard. This is due to their relatively low current demand.

However, with a washing machine, dishwasher, kettle, iron, and various other electrical paraphernalia in the modern kitchen, the downstairs ring main tends to have to work at the top end of its capacity these days. Edit: forgot to say that best practice these days is 3 ring mains - kitchen/rest of downstairs/upstairs.

Speaking as a fully qualified electrical engineer, I would always supply a cooker point with 6 or 10 sq mm cable (depending on total load), protected at 32/40/45A as required in the consumer unit. I'd then run 2 x 6mm sq (check hob load first) cables from the cooker point, with one going to the hob (possibly via a cable outlet plate connector) and the other supplying a 13A fused connection unit in the adjacent cupboard. The oven cable would then be permanently connected to this fused connection unit, rather than being plugged in to a socket (increased chance of overheating when plugs and sockets are used).

Benefits...

1/ A reduced current draw on the downstairs ring-main, and

2/ All cables will be correctly protected for the fuse rating employed, and

3/ There is only one switch to turn off in an emergency.


HTH
YB

monkeyboy72

Thanks very much for your reply, very informative, thanks.

ritac1

Speaking of wiring in ovens...

My oven door has broken and I would like to replace the whole oven. It looks like a simple job to sremove the old one.

1. Switch off the electric
2. Disconnect the wires from the box in the adjacent cupboard and take out the old oven.

Would it then be easy enough for me to slot in the new one and wire up the oven in the same way?

Thanks anyone

JasonW_2

In theory yes, as long as you isolate the mains and switch off any RCDs on the cooker ring. I am not sure if the new electrical regs cover this though. It says you cannot attempt 'big jobs' yourself, but who decides what a big job is? I woul d have no hesitation in doing it myself as long as I was sure the mains was off.

JW

YorkshireBoy

ritac1 wrote:

Speaking of wiring in ovens...

My oven door has broken and I would like to replace the whole oven. It looks like a simple job to sremove the old one.

1. Switch off the electric
2. Disconnect the wires from the box in the adjacent cupboard and take out the old oven.

Would it then be easy enough for me to slot in the new one and wire up the oven in the same way?

Thanks anyone

This job (in itself) DOES NOT fall under the new Part P system.

Is it a "built under" oven (with a separate hob), or a cooker (all in one unit)?

However, just make sure you're swapping like for like (read nameplate and check Amps & KW). For example, if your new one is an all in one cooker with a 5 plate hob and double oven you may need to run a larger supply cable (10mm instead of the more usual 6mm). If you need a bigger cable, then this cable installation is classed as a Part P job.

Post back with more detail and I'll try and help further.

HTH
YB

ritac1

Hello again, yes it is a built in 'under' oven I am wanting to replace.

I feel I should be okay unless the new oven has completely different looking wires and stuff.

I am going to take out the old one this weekend and see if there are any nameplates on the side showing any details which may be relevant.

Thanks for your help so far.