Replacing a hob

SadieO

We've just bought our first house and the hob is rubbish. It's one of those solid plate electric ones and you might as well put your pan on the radiator it takes that long to heat up, and doesn't get very hot when it does! Never had to buy appliances before so sorry for the stupid questions.

Looking at ones on Currys etc they all seem to be 50cm deep (as is our current one) but the widths vary. The width of our current one is 59cm (50cm for the square where the four rings are and another 9cm for the strip down the side where the dials are). Do I need to find one that is also 59cm or will a 60cm one - which seems to be quite a common size - be able to be made to fit once you take the old one off? I assume the installation person from somewhere like Currys isn't going to be able to start trimming away at the worktop??  But is it actually a hole that the hob needs to fit into, or does it sort of sit on top??

lesalanos

The hob will drop into a hole in the worktop.  All hobs will have a larger area on top than needed underneath otherwise it would drop through the hole.  Chances are a 60cm would be fine.

Can you access the underside of the worktop?

SadieO

lesalanos said:

All hobs will have a larger area on top than needed underneath otherwise it would drop through the hole.

D'oh, of course that makes sense! (I did say my questions were stupid!)

The oven is directly underneath it. 

MikeJXE

You need to find one that is slightly larger both ways than the hole in the worktop 

Your existing one could have a hole a lot smaller than the top you are measuring 

Look under and measure the hole 

lesalanos

SadieO said:

lesalanos said:

All hobs will have a larger area on top than needed underneath otherwise it would drop through the hole.

D'oh, of course that makes sense! (I did say my questions were stupid!)

The oven is directly underneath it. 

Never worry about stupid questions.

You should be fine with a 60cm hob.  There shouldn't be any issues with the circuit being capable of swapping the hob.

Depending how confident you are you can unscrew and slide out the oven to see how big the hole is.  Don't leave it balancing though as the door is heavy and can tip it over 

SadieO

I can't get at the underneath unfortunately, the oven is built in there. 

FreeBear

This type of thing...

Nasty, horrible, and quite frankly, not fit for purpose. Cheap and easy to clean, so popular with landlords...

Niece had one in her new home. The first thing I did was to buy her an induction hob from B&Q. Needed to make the hole ~12mm bigger at the front as the size of the cutout is not universal. Not sure if your average Currys installer would be able to do that.

If your DIY skills are nonexistent, it would be worthwhile getting a general purpose handyman in to do the fitting.

I'd recommend an induction hob - Controllable like a gas hob without the flames, so no waiting for the heating zone to come up to temperature. The only downside is you might need to replace your pots & pans. Aluminimium saucepans don't work (as a rule).

SadieO

Thanks, yes that's exactly the kind we have. You're right about landlords! The house was previously a rental. It's our first mortgage, we've always rented before too and have always had hobs like this! The (extremely basic) shower in our new place is identical to our old one too! Is there a special shop for landlords that sells this kind of ultra no-frills appliance?! 

FreeBear

SadieO said:  Is there a special shop for landlords that sells this kind of ultra no-frills appliance?! 

Yes, Howdens.

Other outlets available.

plumb1_2

Google Lamola LAM1217
you should be able to get the cutout size

MikeJXE

SadieO said:

I can't get at the underneath unfortunately, the oven is built in there. 

The oven is normally secured in place with a couple of short screws 

Open the door and look down the edge of the oven, there may be 2 or 4 screwed into the oven housing unit

Slide out the oven carefully and make sure it doesn't tip towards you, the cable will be long enough if it's electric

Then measure the hole, just because the hob thats in fits doesn't mean the hole wasn't cut for an earlier hob.