fitting a 16amp oven, question for a sparky

phatbear

Chaps.

please excuse my ignorance but i have a question regarding 16amp ovens.

due to an over sight i ordered, and had delivered, a 16amp (bosch) oven and its since come to light that the old oven i have is 13amp and its plugged into a standard 13amp double socket, the other socket is being used for the igniter on a gas hob.

so in theory this double socket has the potential to output 26amps? ie i could plug in two 13amp things into it and run them at the same time with out issue?

i have removed the front plate of the double socket and the feed is a single t&e cable.

Therefore, and this is where my logic is probably wrong.

I could in theory replace the double socket with a cooker socket and find alternative means to ignite the hob without any risk of issue with the cabling deciding to catch light etc.

So am i correct or an i missing something

ta for now

dj1471

Nope. Somebody will come along and give you a detailed technical reason, but the only way you can run a 16A oven is off a dedicated circuit NOT off your kitchen ring main.

Send it back and get one that can run off a 13A supply (3100W or lower), or pay an electrician to install a cooker circuit.

ryder72

Your ring should be rated at 32A with each plug fused at 13A. This means your ring will allow you to draw a max of 32A from multiple sockets before the circuit trips.

You can plug the 16A oven into a 13A socket using a plug fused at 13A. This could blow the fuse if the oven draws over 13A and this could start to become annoying depending on how you use the oven. In practise however, the peak load on BSH ovens draws 16A only under pretty specific conditions so you will be fine 99% of the time.

You should ideally have a dedicated circuit for the oven though.

Jonesya

Is this double socket fed from the same circuit as the rest of the sockets, or is it on a separate circuit, ie with its own fuse or MCB at the consumer unit?

muckybutt

phatbear wrote: »

i have removed the front plate of the double socket and the feed is a single t&e cable.

There's a hint there folks - it ain't on a ring !

If the cable is 2.5 mm or bigger then it is big enough to run a 16 A load on it yes. OP do you know what size of cable it is ? post a photo it would be helpful. You CANNOT run two plugs into the cooker though the socket front will need changing for a suitable cooker isolator / connection point and may also need an isolator installing somewhere near it for maintenance purposes.
You also need to check the rating of the fuse / mcb covering the circuit.

phatbear

i dont think its got its own mcb on the consumer unit it appears the only thing that has its own breaker is the power for the fan above the shower.

i assumed, as previously stated, plugging two 13amp items into a double socket would draw more than the 16amps that the oven requires, you will have to excuse my ignorance as i know nowt about such things, obviously.

im happy to try it and see, and if it trips out or blows fuses to take it as a lesson learnt but i am worried about the wiring etc combusting

as far as returning it due to living in a small flat i had to completely unpack it to get it into the flat and up the hall way so its not really an option

Jonesya

muckybutt wrote: »

There's a hint there folks - it ain't on a ring

It could be a spur off the ring though, so that needs to be ruled out first.

phatbear

muckybutt wrote: »

OP do you know what size of cable it is ? post a photo it would be helpful.

i can take pics tommorow as just sorting dinner out and therefore its a bad time to be pulling exsisting ovens out

sparky260500

I would think this would be a spur of the main ring main fused at 30/32 amps back at the cu. so you can't change the double socket for a cooker outlet as there is no way of fusing it down. so leave the double socket alone and run a separate cable back to the cu with the correct fusing.

phatbear

sparky260500 wrote: »

so leave the double socket alone and run a separate cable back to the cu with the correct fusing.

based on the lay out of my flat that would be one hell of a job sadly

sparky260500

phatbear wrote: »

based on the lay out of my flat that would be one hell of a job sadly

If you want to do it correctly and safely that is your only option.