changing to electric cooker, is my 1980 wiring okay?

[Silvan]

Hi,

I'm considering changing from gas cooker to electric. The house was built in 1980 in Scotland. We had a conservatory built ten years ago and they had to upgrade the fuses to an RCD. I've attached a couple of images, I don't know if that fuse marked cooker is actually a fuse or not.

Will my electrics be robust enough for a ceramic cooker? Or if it makes a difference a ceramic hob (no oven)?

David

 

[SUNRAY]

If nothing has changed or deteriated there should not be a problem. However are you sure your fusebox is included on the RCD?
What is the MCB in the white box with the RCD for?
Can we have a wider picture showing the meter and the grey cables etc to the right of the fusebox.

 

[Silvan]

Here are photos thank you.

 

[Ragnar_AT]

Suspiciously looks like the RCD only protects one circuit, probably for the conservatory.
I don‘t think there’s any legal requirement to update the CU when connecting a new cooker to the existing fixed wiring but personally I‘d recommend replacing the CU anyway. It’s most likely still as safe as it was in 1980 but things have evolved since then.

 

[Silvan]

Thank you. The RCD protects more than the conservatory I know that because it has tripped out in the past. I remember that the guys who did the conservatory upgrade took off a lot of stickers that I had above the other fuses but left the "cooker" one. So maybe the cooker is the only thing not protected by the RCD? If that is the case would it still be okay to connect a cooker up as it is?

 

[SUNRAY]

Suspiciously looks like the RCD only protects one circuit, probably for the conservatory.
I don‘t think there’s any legal requirement to update the CU when connecting a new cooker to the existing fixed wiring but personally I‘d recommend replacing the CU anyway. It’s most likely still as safe as it was in 1980 but things have evolved since then.

I'm inclined to agree that expect it to be as safe as it was when installed and wonder if they simply diverted the ring circuit to be via the RCD (or something similar) in order that the additional electrical work complied with regs at the time.

Of course the simple thing to do is see what goes off when you push the test button every three months like it says on the sticker

 

[sparkwright]

The question is, is there a cooker outlet, coming from the cooker panel in your picture, in place ready to connect the cooker?
Or perhaps a coil of cable, emerging from the wall, ready to connect to the cooker?
If there isn't, and you need to get a cable from the cooker to your cooker panel in the picture, a bit of effort will be required.

 

[plugwash]

probably for the conservatory.

When I look at the fusebox I see

Three 5A fuses. Presumablly lighting (though it's somewhat strange to have 3 lighting circuits in a property that has so few other circuits).
One 15A circuit, might be sockets, but I think is more likely an immersion heater.
Two 30A circuits one of which is labeled cooker. I presume the other is sockets.

So I think it's quite likely that a large proportion, of the sockets (possibly all of them except the one on the cooker switch) in the property are on one circuit and the RCD/MCB unit has been inserted into said circuit.

 

[ericmark]

What is required, and what is sensible, are not the same. BS 7671 is not law, but can be used in a court of law, so what BS 7671 says is not forcing you to do anything. And the changes are for installations designed after the date of the change, not existing installations.

BS 7671 will continue to be amended from time to time to take account of the publication of new or amended CENELEC standards.

I, for one, have never read the CENELEC documents, so not a clue if they require changes?

However, back in around 1992 I fitted RCD protection in my own house, when I was very proud as my son passed his RAE to become a radio amateur at 14-year-old, and I wanted to protect him with his new hobby. At that time, I had not seen RCBO's, so used two RCD's, which through the years since, would every so often have a bout of tripping.

This house, after loosing a freezer full of food in last house, I used all RCBO's, this time to protect my wife and me, my son is now an electrical engineer and long since left home, and has his own children to look after.

So in real terms, it is a risk assessment. So a home where no DIY is ever done, and no children or old people who are likely to do things like putting an extension lead in a bucket of water, as the red neon was flashing, and they thought it was on fire, yes this happened, then not having RCD protection is likely not a big deal. Pobody's nerfect, and we make mistakes, be as not renewing a damaged flex, or leaving the car battery charger out in the rain, or drilling through a cable, to add RCD protection makes sense.

So unless tied of living, one should consider an upgrade.