How do I tell if my oven is 'hard-wired'?

scarletjim

I may have to replace my 12-year-old oven (cooker?) soon. It is a single one built into the worksurface in my kitchen in my flat. The model is Electolux EOB976x1. There is an oven part and a hob part, but with the worksurface in between them, I don't know whether they are connected in any way, perhaps not, as the hob controls are entirely on the hob i.e. no controls on the oven part do anything on the hob. The power supply is simply a red switch on the wall that says 'cooker' - what happens in terms of electrics behind the oven I can't know without removing it.

Having read about replacing the oven part, some people say that single ones usually come with a plug ready just to be plugged in, but does the above description suggest that mine is 'hard-wired'? It sounds fairly fairly easy to turn power off, unscrew my oven, remove it and replace with a new one, but obviously I am concerned about the electrics side of this - if I just need to unplug a plug behind my oven, and plug in the new one, then great, but anytihng else I definitely wouldn't want to do myself.

So I need to know whether or not it is just a case of unplugging my existing oven and plugging in the new one before deciding how to proceed (obviously if hard wiring is required, I will get someone in to do it). If mine is hard-wired, can I still replace with a plug one, and will that be easy? I just want an easy and cheap solution as I will probably be moving in a few months anyway (but don't want to sell knowing that the oven fan is screaming).

Any help gratefully received, and happy to clarify anything above as I'm a bit thick when it comes to thnigs like this

Steve_the_fitter

Does your cooker and hob both turn off when you turn off the cooker switch? IF so I imagine they are both hard wired in. Pull the cooker out and see whats going on behind it as I imagine that where the connections will be.
You can get single ovens which have a plug on them but these days they normally have to be hard wired in. If you have the right electrics changin ghte hob and oven is a DIy job as long as you know what you are doing. Prob £50 to get someone round to do it for you assuming electrics are ok

fwor

Obviously I don't know that specific make/model, but from your description it is ~probably~ "hard wired", and not connected via plug and socket.

The main reason for this is typically that the peak load of the appliance (when all elements are heating) is higher than a 13A plug is designed to handle.

In theory you cannot do work on such an installation unless you are qualified to do so, though in my personal opinion, if you know what you are doing you should be able to use your own judgement. It is not a complex task if just replacing like for like.

scarletjim

Hob and cooker work entirely separately with regard to their own dials, i.e one can be on whilst other is off and vice versa, but when I turn off the main red switch on the wall, yes it turns off them both, so I expect you are right, expect they are hard wired.

When you say about £50 to wire hob and oven, will it cost less if only the oven needs replacing (hob seems to be fine)?

fwor

scarletjim wrote: »

When you say about £50 to wire hob and oven, will it cost less if only the oven needs replacing (hob seems to be fine)?

In theory - provided as stated above there are no hidden problems with the existing electrical installation - it should only take a few minutes to disconnect the old and reconnect the new.

Problem is that with all of their overheads and the cost of diesel/petrol, electricians can't cut back the cost of a callout too much or they end up working for next to nothing.

I guess a really local one might do it for less, but you would have to do the physical work of taking out old in advance, and refixing the new in place once connected up.

macman

Hard wiring to a cooker connection point is no harder than wiring a plug, assuming that you are competent to do it. It involves connecting 3 wires.

scarletjim

Ok I understand, suppose much under £50 would make it not worth someone coming out even for a 2 minute job, we all got to make a living I guess.

Last question - do I need to be fussy about which oven I buy, or can I just buy anything (with dimensions within a couple of millimetres of mine obviously)? Or do I need to match up anything regarding power ratings etc? If I'm moving , I just want something cheap to do the job...

scarletjim

macman wrote: »

Hard wiring to a cooker connection point is no harder than wiring a plug, assuming that you are competent to do it. It involves connecting 3 wires.

Well, even I can do that - I expect there are guides all over the internet, can anyone recommend any good ones, as if it really is that simple then maybe I can do it. I know nothing about electrics, but I can follow instructions very precisely (I know many people who can't, and just read the bits they want to read!)

EDIT: Actually scratch that - for the sake of £50, I'd rather pay someone who knows precisely what they are doing, however easy it should be.

Steve_the_fitter

YOu wont really have to worry about the size of the single oven. All undercounter single ovens will fit. You just need to make sure that the power of the hob and new oven combined does not overpower the cable or the MCB at the fuseboard.
As said the £50 is kinda minimum. If you find someone very local it may be less.

macman

scarletjim wrote: »

Well, even I can do that - I expect there are guides all over the internet, can anyone recommend any good ones, as if it really is that simple then maybe I can do it. I know nothing about electrics, but I can follow instructions very precisely (I know many people who can't, and just read the bits they want to read!)

EDIT: Actually scratch that - for the sake of £50, I'd rather pay someone who knows precisely what they are doing, however easy it should be.

If you don't know how to wire a plug, then you are not competent to do it.