Wiring an electric cooker?

JayneC

Hello, hope somebody can help. I currently have an electric oven and gas hob. I planned to have my gas hob and oven taken out and install a free standing electric cooker (MSE wise this is because the hob is the only gas appliance I have now I have solid fuel heating and figured if I took out the hob I could then get the gas cut off = no gas bills:))Any way DSIL who is an electrician has told me that the wiring I have currently for the oven (which is wired into the mains) is not big enough as the hob will draw more power and if I go ahead I will need to increase capacity of my fuse board and effectively rewire the kitchen. Whilst I don't want to disbelieve SIL I'm unconvinced. Does anybody know anything about this? Can someone confirm whether this is the always necessarily the case.

Cheers

DVardysShadow

It is not always necessarily the case. But if your SiL who is an electrician says it is so in your case, then, as a stranger on the internet, I would expect him to be right.

If he is a capable and competent electrician, the quickest way to cut yourself off from his help is to come here and ask a load of strangers when you disbelieve him.

boogiemaster

We have an electric socket for our cooker on its own supply and it has a 30 amp breaker in the fuse box and a socket to turn it off at the wall.

He's telling you the truth about needing its own supply because it cant run off a 13 amp plug socket.

keystone

A freestanding cooker must have its own independent supply direct from the Consumer Unit.

It will cost you more in electric to have an electric hob than to continue using your gas hob and pay a separate bill.

All in all seems like Plan B is in order.

Cheers

ormus

most ovens can work of just the normal ring main. 13amp.
however a hob or freestanding cooker needs a dedicated 30/45 amp supply.
do you have a proper cooker switch box or not?

Owain_Moneysaver

Yep.

Many (single) electric ovens are less than 13 amp (3 kW) and can be plugged into a 13A socket.

Electric hobs are 7-8kW and need to have a dedicated circuit from the consumer unit. If you don't have any spare ways on the existing consumer unit you may need a new consumer unit.

However it's only one (thickish) cable from the consumer unit to the oven via an isolating switch. The same switch can isolate both hob and oven provided it's within 2 metres of both.

JayneC

Hi thanks for the help. I do realise that it can't run off a 13 amp plug and the oven I have already is directly wired into the mains and has it's own switch. I just wondered if it might depend on the actual cooker in question or whether it was always the case that every cooker will need the bigger wiring. I just figured if there's wiring already there for the oven why wouldn't it have been installed to accommodate a cooker, especially as freestanding cookers predate built in ovens. But hey ho if it's going to cheaper to run the separate gas hob anyway I'll maybe just scrap the plan.
Cheers

Myser

Without looking at the wire size, it's difficult to say whether the exisiting run can cope with the new cooker.

Gas is generally cheaper to run than electric hobs.

I hate using electric hobs where I am at the moment. Things take so much longer to heat up. Much prefer a gas hob!

Steve_the_fitter

if your existing oven has a 6mm radial or more from the fuse board you will be able to find free standing cooker which can be wired into it. There a little bit more to it which you can look up on the net but it sounds to me like you have the cable. The breaker at the fuse board may need to be updated.
Whats a DSIL??

Myser

At a guess: Divorced Son In Law?

Don't shoot me if I'm wrong!

keystone

No its "Dear" as in DD, DH, DS1.

Cheers