Electric Hob Help

raspberryblueberry

Hi all

I currently have a gas hob and an electric oven, ordered replacements from AO, and when they arrived the fitter wouldn't fit a new gas hob because my splash back is made from a wood material/MDF and the plug socket was too close into the 'hot zone'. The hob hasn't been replaced for years I suspect so obviously the regulations have changed.
He told me an electric hob would be a better option, otherwise I would have to rip out and replace the splash back, and get someone in to move the plug socket. So the gas will be sealed off and replaced with the electric hob like I said.
However, he said I would need an induction or ceramic hob that is 2.9 something... 
I've since looked at a Bosch induction hob online I like and it says it comes with a plug attached and it's 3700 Watts. Is this suitable? Also some hobs say they need to be hardwired in? I think induction seems better from what I've read online. But I'm confused on what he meant by needing 2.9 or lower?

Please help, I dont want another failed delivery attempt!

DullGreyGuy

2.9kw maybe? A 3kw or below hob can be plugged in with a standard 13amp fuse plug, above that you will almost certainly hardwire it (technically you could probably use a commercial style plug of the correct rating but given you dont unplug and move the hob often and they are really bulky it'd be pointless). 

Personally wouldn't go with a plug in one if you can avoid it unless you are only ever going to be cooking with one or two rings. 

You need to check what wiring you've got there already and what fuse its going to in the consumer unit/fuse box. If its just on the standard ring mains and not a dedicated line for a former electric hob or oven its likely you'll be limited to plug in options unless you rewire. 

Induction is very good and very happy with transferring to it from gas but our hob has over 7.5kw of power so can run several pans at full blast without blinking. 

raspberryblueberry

Thanks for your reply, the hob I'm looking at says that it can be plugged in with "Plug & Play — Easy installation with no hardwiring" 
I was thinking this sounds fine and says it's 3700 watts, and 10,13, 16 amps

Bosch Series 2 PUG61RAA5B 60cm Induction Hob

This is what I was looking at for reference, would this be suitable? 

FreeBear

DullGreyGuy said: Induction is very good and very happy with transferring to it from gas but our hob has over 7.5kw of power so can run several pans at full blast without blinking. 

I'm sold on induction hobs - Just like cooking on gas without any of the disadvantages. The hob is so much easier to keep clean, and food doesn't seem to get burnt on to the pans like it might with gas or conventional electric rings. When niece moved in to her new home, it had one of those horrible Lamona hobs loved by landlords. Bought her an induction hob, and she loves it (had grown up with gas).

Downside to induction is you have to be careful when buying pots & pans - Aluminium, copper, and glass won't work, and there is a minimum size of pan that can be used on each ring. If a magnet sticks to the bottom of the pan, and it is larger than 100mm, it should work.

The better induction hobs need a dedicated 32/45A supply from the consumer unit - You can get some models that will run off a 13A plug, but you'll only be able to use (at most) two rings at full power. You might get three/four rings on lower power settings.

DullGreyGuy

So 3.7kw will be on 16amp which won't be available plug in in the UK... in EU some countries do go up to 16amp on a plug. UK is capped at 13amp so 3kw but it appears it can operate at the three amperages with just the reduced power. 

The Bosch own website says this is suitable for cooking with 2 pans at the same time, despite there being 4 rings, and may be limiting for those with bigger families. So do you often cook with more than 2 rings? Or even cook with 2 rings on high? A different hob won't fix this though, it's the limit of it being plug in. 

raspberryblueberry

It's just me and my partner, and it isn't a forever home or anything. It was previously rented before we bought it, so want to update the old hob and oven that have definitely seen better days.

So the AO website says it can just be plugged in, which is obviously a UK website etc. So am I right in thinking that it can be plugged in to the existing plug fine,  I will just be limited to using a maximum of 2 rings at a time?

raspberryblueberry

Just to clarify, it was rented out by the old owner before we bought it, not that we rented it before if that makes sense! My point is that the current hob and oven aren't great lol

DullGreyGuy

raspberryblueberry said:

It's just me and my partner, and it isn't a forever home or anything. It was previously rented before we bought it, so want to update the old hob and oven that have definitely seen better days.

So the AO website says it can just be plugged in, which is obviously a UK website etc. So am I right in thinking that it can be plugged in to the existing plug fine,  I will just be limited to using a maximum of 2 rings at a time?

obviously cannot see the socket nor what else is plugged into the same ring but in principle it can be. 

You technically can use all 4 rings at the time but the 3kw will be shared between them, so 750w per ring which is less than a toaster and less than half of a hairdryer. So works but would be like trying to frying an egg with a hairdryer on low setting.  Using 2 rings should be ok with one highish and one medium. 

Use is simple though, if you have one set to high and try to set another to high it will automatically reduce the original to keep within the max power but you just need to keep an eye on it else you'll not spot it and wonder why your things aren't frying like you expected etc. 

raspberryblueberry

Ah I understand, thank you so much for your help. It's such minefield working it out, I thought it would be easy! Is there any other options that would be better? Is hardwiring it in difficult, if I have the AO installation doing that or is that something they wouldn't do?

coffeehound

A photo of your fusebox / consumer unit would be handy to see whether you have a separate cooker supply as DGG mentioned

FreeBear

raspberryblueberry said:

Ah I understand, thank you so much for your help. It's such minefield working it out, I thought it would be easy! Is there any other options that would be better? Is hardwiring it in difficult, if I have the AO installation doing that or is that something they wouldn't do?

If you need a new cable from the consumer unit (plus isolator switch), you'll need a qualified electrician to do the work, not an AO installer. If you go for a plug in model, you don't need to pay AO to do the plugging in...

BUT... Check the size of cut out in the worktop. Not all hobs are the same size, and an induction hob might need a bigger hole. If the existing cutout is too small, you'd need to confirm that AO would make the hole larger and clean up the mess.