Oven Query, another one

macman

The choice of oven is up to you, as above you can still connect an oven supplied with a plug on it to a dedicated cooker circuit.

Ebe_Scrooge

Mrsmoneyspinner wrote: »

precisely! it's just that the sparky who took the oven away was doing his job.

Hmm, I'm wondering whether the delivery man is a qualified sparky, or just a delivery man who's been told what he can and can't do ? No disrespect to him, but what he's said to you does sound a little odd.


I'm sure a properly qualified spark will be along in due course to tell us what the actual current ( excuse the pun ) rules and regs are

dominoman

Mrsmoneyspinner wrote: »

precisely! the oven I want is 2.78kw so I think I will just order it and see what the sparky says when he turns up with it - worst case scenario is they will take it away again and I will be better informed!

Order the one you want. A sparky can easily fit a 2.78kW oven to the existing "oven" circuit if there is one.

The problem would be the other way around, if you only have a 13A socket and order an oven of more than 3kW. But if you stick with the one you like it will be a matter of just plugging it in or wiring it in (simple 10 minute job for a sparky or competent DIYer).

zax47

Mrsmoneyspinner wrote: »

precisely! it's just that the sparky who took the oven away was doing his job and saying he can't put it into the existing hard wire set up ... but I don't understand why he has told me to look for an oven that draws more than 3kw ... that was my point: and I wrote down what he said so I wouldn't get confused! he said 32amp and an oven that uses 3kw or more... the oven I want is 2.78kw so I think I will just order it and see what the sparky says when he turns up with it - worst case scenario is they will take it away again and I will be better informed! thanks for your comments you are a friendly bunch and your time spent on my little conundrum has been appreciated.

One point in all this - the person delivering/"installing" the oven is NOT an electrician/sparky so don't think he's capable of more than you've already experienced. He's a delivery man with a bit of training to be able to plug in & un-plug stuff. That's why what he told you was cobblers!

It came with a plug - your existing set-up didn't have one but was hard wired. He's not skilled or capable of changing that, ergo he can't do anything and takes it away.

Ovens (generally single, but not always) rated less than 3kW can use a "normal" plug and will come with a plug fitted (that's the rules). They MAY be fitted to a dedicated "hard-wired" circuit - but not by a delivery man as it requires the cable & plug removing first, something beyond his skill level and remit.

Ovens (generally double, but not always) more than 3kW will require hard-wiring to a dedicated circuit (like you already have)

Your choices;

1) Get the set-up changed to a plug by an electrician BUT this will limit you to only ovens of LESS than 3kW. Delivery man can "install" oven to this.

2) Leave as is, but it will need a skilled person (electrician, for example) to install whatever oven you buy- either hard-wired if the new oven is MORE than 3kW, or to remove the cable & plug and connect as hard-wired if LESS than 3kW.

In essence - you can have pretty much any oven you like connected to what you already have, but it will require someone with more skill and knowledge more than a semi-trained delivery man to install it.

Rodders53

You MUST NOT remove the 13A plug from such a cooker and just hard wire it into a 32A dedicated cooker circuit...

The 13A fuse in the plug top is essential to safely interrupt the supply in the event of a fault (over-current) in the cable to the cooker, or the cooker itself... The relatively thin cable used on a 'plug in cooker' would not withstand a steady fault of 32A and potentially could cause a fire!

Nor would any competent DIY person do this (let alone a qualified electrician). A fused wired connection might suffice fitted in place of the 32A cable connection terminal point? As might fitting a single 13A socket for the plug to go into? Another alternative may be to rewire the cooker with a suitable cable (if the cooker cable entry point and terminals were suitable)?

Accurate advice from a professional current sparks would be best here!

zax47

Rodders53 wrote: »

Accurate advice from a professional current sparks would be best here!

One like me, perchance....?

My "cut off plug" assumed "and cable" as that would be perfectly natural to me and any other electrician - forgot about the hard of thinking DIYers.

Did say - get a sparky to fit it!

Mrsmoneyspinner

Just to conclude this thread I have had a sparky out who made necessary changes to supply and wired the oven up. It cost £60 which I was happy with. Thank you everyone for your advice and comments on this.