Cooker circuit upgrade?

Aylesbury_Duck

The old range-style cooker we inherited with the house some years ago has started to pack up. With one of the two ovens not getting up to heat, the other one's fan being temperamental and the grill long since broken, it'll be time to replace it, probably in the January sales. I've been doing some research and have identified three models to keep an eye on in January. Two of them require a 32A circuit, which we have and which serves the current cooker. One of the new options requires 40A and whilst we're unlikely to ever use that load, I'd want it all set up safely and correctly. I can see that swapping the circuit breaker is straightforward but am I right in thinking that an electrician needs to verify that the cabling is of the necessary rating to take the new potential maximum load?

FreeBear

Aylesbury_Duck wrote: »

am I right in thinking that an electrician needs to verify that the cabling is of the necessary rating to take the new potential maximum load?

If you are in Wales, then yes.

For a 40A circuit, the cable generally needs to be a 10mm² T+E. For a 32A circuit, 6mm² is the norm - Although much depends on how long the cable run is and whether it is encased in insulation or clipped to a wall.

If you can measure the overall dimension of the cable both at the consumer unit and the cooker end, the following will give you some idea of what cable you have..

6mm² 13.5mm x 7mm
10mm² 17.1mm x 10mm

For other cable sizes, see https://www.diynot.com/wiki/Electrics:cable_types:flatpvccables