Single eletric oven installation

martint · Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 1:16 pm

Apologies if this is covered elsewhere - I would have certainly expected it to be but can't quite find a topic that covers this specific question.

Think I may have just screwed up an oven purchase. Have just replaced a gas hob/oven with a gas hob and electric single oven, intending to get myself an oven that I could plug into the ring main via a normal 13a plug. Having taken delivery of my AEG B1180-4 oven I find that there's nothing in the manual that directly indicates wattage (and cant find anything on the web (I stupidly believed the reassurance that it plugged straight in). Sadly I suspect that I may be looking at a new circuit after all.

It dooesn't have a plug or cable attached and the manual states it needs a 2.5mm2 cable and a 15-20amp fuse, which seems to imply that a conventional 13amp socket won't be up to it.

I'd be grateful if anyone could shed any further light on this - I find myself wondering whether a switched spur from the ring would do the job; but (its a small house and doesn't have a separate ring in the kitchen) have a nasty feeling that we are looking at a dedicated radial (and cooker switch/control) from the consumer unit - which I really didn't want to have to get into.

And guess that I need heat resisting cable in any case? Any ideas gratefully received.....

securespark · Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 1:17 pm

We NEED to know the load.

davy_owen_88 · Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 1:53 pm

Check on the oven door, or at the back of the appliance. There is usually a note stating the load.

JohnD · Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 1:59 pm

The Oven element is 2300W. There will be a tiny load from the fan as well.

http://www.unifit.co.uk/default.cfm?viewprod&id=5111

I believe it has an integrated grill, Presumably the controls prevent you putting the grill and oven elements at the same time.

martint · Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 2:03 pm

Cheers, guys - I was waiting on written confirmation from AEG following Securespark's comment.

I phoned AEG and still awaiting written confirmation, but the story so far is that they say it's a 3kw unit, and can be connected via a 13amp socket.

Have asked for confirmation as my manual seems to imply the opposite, and they have promised to email me a pdf of the manual that they say has now been updated and includes stuff that mine version doesn't, which confirms this.

However, still not rec'd. Assuming that it is 3kw - does that OK for the ring?

JohnD · Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 2:09 pm

Yes.

A 13A fused plug can accomdate 3kW.

Appliances are usually designed to suit this (most single ovens in the UK market run about 10A).

Oven elements do not run a continuous load, as they cycle on and off by the thermostat once they reach temperature. Mine is generally up to temp with 10 minutes of switch-on.

Some unfortunate people live in countries without our wonderful ring-main and fused plug system, and will often need a separate circuit even for a single oven.

martint · Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 2:29 pm

Thanks all - I'm feeling a bit silly as it looks as if I could have sorted this out with a call to AEG in the first place. What I still don't get though, is why in these circumstances the manual I have states that it needs a 15-20amp fuse? Unless it was just a "misprinted" manual that's now been superceded.

Still waiting for the pdf from AEG though, so not counting chickens just yet...

And as it's got no cable on it - will I need to source a heat resistant cable for the plug, or is that only an issue with highly rated applicances that throw more waste heat out of the back (energy efficiency anyone...)?

Steve · Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 4:36 pm

martint wrote:

Thanks all - I'm feeling a bit silly as it looks as if I could have sorted this out with a call to AEG in the first place. What I still don't get though, is why in these circumstances the manual I have states that it needs a 15-20amp fuse? Unless it was just a "misprinted" manual that's now been superceded.

It states this because in European countries, they dont use our wonderful 32 amp ring main system with 13 amp plugs. many countries use 16 amp radials. To plug a long-use 13 amp appliance into a 16 amp circuit in a kitchen would not be a clever thing to do, so they recommend a new radial from the distribution board, which would be 16 or 20 amps.

JohnD · Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 4:38 pm

Crafty wrote:

wonderful ...

JohnD wrote:

Some unfortunate people live in countries without our wonderful ring-main and fused plug system