Cooker & Fan Wiring

[willtd]

Hi

I have bought a 45amp cooker switch with a socket which I intend to replace a double socket on my Mains Ring with.

Will this be suitable to run the cables for a gas oven, gas hob and electric extractor fan to, and still use the plug for a lamp or kettle?

It will be on the mains ring, and the appliances wired directly into it, not plugged in.

Many Thanks

 

[mapj1]

Not really no. The ring main has a total rating of 30A or so, and is intended for sockets all round the building.
A cooker circuit is meant to be fitted at the end of a dedicated radial, particularly a 45A one.

But you don't need 45A in any case - so why the monster switch - better would have been a normal switch fuse, which you could hard wire too.
A cooker switch has no fuses, so your hob ignition and all the other stuff (which will be a few amps at most) doesn't need a 45A fuse to 30A ring, with no further protection.
It needs a little plug-style 3A fuse, either wired as normal in a plug, or a switch fuse unit if hard wired.
I'm afraid it seems you've bought slightly the wrong thing - do they do sale or return?

 

[willtd]

Hi

I think I may have confused myself here. I run a fused Spur off the mains ring and hard wire all three applicances into it that should be OK!

Didn't think a Gas Cooker would need a dedicated radial.

 

[Steve]

An electric cooker (or hob and doubleoven combo) would need to be wired into the cooker switch you bought, and a 10mm cable run back to the consumer unit.

3 appliances need 3 fused spurs. No arguement. 3 appliances and 1 spur is like wiring 3 appliances into one plug. potentially dangerous and overloading.

What you describe there however, willtd is suitable for connecting to 2 fused spurs. The hob and oven will need one 3 amp spur, they can be wired together, since they require very little power, and the 3 amp fuse will provide plenty of protection! The fan will require a 5 amp spur on its own.

In this situation, the switch you bought should not be used. This is only for high-power electric cookers and should never be wired on a ring main.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

3 appliances need 3 fused spurs. No arguement.

Oh - I don't know about that....

There are good reasons for having 1 per appliance, but in this case need is not one of them

3 appliances and 1 spur is like wiring 3 appliances into one plug. potentially dangerous and overloading.

Let's see - 2 igniters at less than 1 amp each, and a fan/hood at less than 2A? I doubt it would come to 3A, let alone 13...

What you describe there however, willtd is suitable for connecting to 2 fused spurs. The hob and oven will need one 3 amp spur, they can be wired together, since they require very little power, and the 3 amp fuse will provide plenty of protection! The fan will require a 5 amp spur on its own.

I'd worry that a 1kW fan would suck the food out of the pans..

But even if you are right, that's less than 8A, so how would it overload an FCU?

 

[Steve]

I'd worry that a 1kW fan would suck the food out of the pans..

now that i'd like to see!

I was just saying how i'd wire it. Is it allowed to wire all 3 into one FCU? Seeing as they are different types of appliance etc. My kitchen fan claimed to require a 5 amp fuse in the supply, so i was going on this. Will this be for a starting current? (being a motor, maybe 2 in some models)

Anyhow, for ease of wiring (and so as not to spoil the tiling above the worktop), i didn't use an FCU for my gas oven, i fitted a socket in a cupboard next to it and fed the flex through to a plug. This can be isolated by the cooker switch which still controls the electric hob and this socket.

 

[nstreet]

I'd worry that a 1kW fan would suck the food out of the pans..

now that i'd like to see!

At least that would save buying a blender, just need someone on the roof to catch the soup as it comes out of the vent