60cm gas cooker requires 75cm clearance??

melt71

We are having a new kitchen fitted and want to buy a new gas cooker. We have a width of about 690mm and we were thinking of buying a 600mm cooker. However, on some of the websites that sell gas cookers they say that you need '750mm clearance' but we don't know whether they mean in width (which would be a major problem for us!) or in depth (possibly because of the fittings at the back meaning it couldn't fit right back against the wall.

Can someone in the know please put us out of our misery as this is driving us mad!!

We currently have a 50cm cooker and it is sat right next to the units with hardly any gap at all so I'm not sure what they mean by it needing 750mm clearance.

Thanks,

Mel

squoog

Is it the ones that have a glass lid over the hob? it could be that you need that clearance above to open the lid and have it against the wall.
I haven't heard that you would need a 75cm space width wise and I have a number of properties that are regularly checked by gas and electrical engineers. Although new rules are always coming in.
The term 'clearance' does make me think they mean above though.
HTH

melt71

no way I didn't even think of clearance above!! thank you very much. It could very well be that because we are tending to choose ones with lids but we've also had a look at a few without. This may explain why it didn't mention 'clearance' on all of the ones we've looked at.

I'll go and do a compare of ones with and without lids and see if that clearance above would make sense.

Thanks again

melt71

Right ok, it's not that!!

I've just checked Dixons which is one of the websites that is mentioning that you need a minimum space of 750mm.

This example is a small (500mm width) cooker without a glass lid and yet they still say in their tech specification page that you need 750mm;

http://www.dixons.co.uk/martprd/store/dix_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1761746697.1200262622@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccefaddmmljffgmcflgceggdhhmdfno.0&page=Product&fm=undefined&sm=undefined&tm=undefined&sku=930080&category_oid=

In their words it says that 750mm is The minimum distance required to fit into the desired space.

How is that possible? and why is a 60cm cooker needing the same space as a 50cm? I'm so confused...

squoog

Hmm, yes it also says it may not be installed in a flat! I can't imagine why that is.
My best guess is that 750 is for the depth of the cooker including pipe rather than width.
Is it the cheaper end only? If so, I wonder if the sides are poorly insulated and get very hot therefore you need a good gap around it?
Frustrating to have such a query on sunday night when the shops are closed!
Let me know if you find out.

Inactive

melt71 wrote: »

Right ok, it's not that!!

I've just checked Dixons which is one of the websites that is mentioning that you need a minimum space of 750mm.


..

I wouldn't place much trust in any info on Dixons Website.;)

squoog

There may be a clue on the Comet site where it explains that there are 2 different gas cookers, european, heated from bottom(i.e. hottest part) and UK heated from above so top is hottest. This might explain a difference in safety regs.

benjdr

I believe i've heard this somewhere before and it's something to do with whether or not your cook has cold or hot sides.
My belling G774 has cold sides so can be fitted right up to the units it is next to. It says this in the product manual.

ormus

There is a minimum level of clearance between the top of the hob and the bottom of the upper cupboards. The British standard is 760mm, although some appliances may require less. Eye-level grill cookers require clearance of 600mm above and 150mm either side.

melt71

ormus wrote: »

There is a minimum level of clearance between the top of the hob and the bottom of the upper cupboards. The British standard is 760mm, although some appliances may require less. Eye-level grill cookers require clearance of 600mm above and 150mm either side.

hmmm ok, most people wouldn't have normal cupboards above an oven with a hob would they? I've certainly never seen it :rotfl: We were planning to have a small chinney style extractor (we currently have an inbuilt one so we do have small extractor cupboard iyswim but it's really high up which I believe they normally are and wouldn't be affected by the hob). We currrently have a gas oven that heats from the bottom and doesn't get that hot at the sides and on one side there is no clearance at all to the kitchen cupboard, the other side has a bit of clearance.

With our new kitchen we can easily do 600mm clearance above and 150mm each side no problem, but I thought eye level grills were for built in ovens and they definitely wouldn't have loads of 'clearance' as they wouldn't be able to be part of a fitted kitchen if they did (I'm talking at the sides, not above).

How the hell did ordering a gas oven become so complicated. The rest of the kitchen wasn't even this complicated :rolleyes:

squoog In answer to your question about it just being the lower price end ones - no it isn't, but it doesn't mention the minimum clearance on all the online shops, which is why I'm getting confused. Some, like Dixons, seem to think it's important and others haven't even given it a mention, even when I've seen the same oven on 2 different sites!

ormus

think the eye level grill spec refers to traditional free standing gas cookers.

built in ovens with a grill have another spec to adhere to. (usually a removable plate fixes to the front).

but i agree that the specs are a bit woolly and you never know if the spec you find is the latest spec from the gov/gas council/BSI.