Cooker hood FCU help

[mick1970]

Hi all,

I was hoping for some help/advice with the installation of a cooker hood. I'd need to install an FCU and I think I can do this myself without calling out an electrician (which I suppose is Question 1 - should I?). But I've not done any significant electrical work before other than changing the odd socket plate etc.

Here's a picture of the setup. The cooker switch is close to a double socket, due to the fact we had to shift it sideways to make room for the cooker backplate (I did get an electrician out for that, and I admit that the "I could have done that!" factor is at play here...) . Therefore mains come in sideways to cooker switch.

So I reckon the options are:

1) Take a spur off the cooker switch - this is the easiest in terms of wiring and channelling but is this recommended, electrically speaking?
2) Take a spur off the double socket - although the channelling here would be more difficult - the hole in the top of the box is already used up by the ring mains, and sideways there's not a lot of room due to the cooker switch
3) Remove the double socket entirely, cut back the wiring and put the FCU on directly on the ring mains - although that would leave it a bit far away from the hood
4) make a new link to the ring mains for the FCU - really too intrusive for what I want to do. Or could I put in a junction box ? (again getting a little more complex than I'd wanted)

Any recommendations ?

Aslo, should I, as a novice, attempt something like this. If not, even if I don't do the wiring, at the very least I'd want to do all the channelling etc. - don't need to pay someone to do that...

Cheers

Ginster

 

[electricryan]

As long as your careful and double check your work this will be a relatively simply job.

1) No. The cooker will be on it's own circuit designed for the cooker only.

Number 2 is the easiest and safest way. Would it be possible to remove another knockout from the double socket, giving you more room for wiring?

 

[Inspector]

Your pic didn't display on my system but I guess I know what you mean.

Don't do option 1 because the terminations won't be sound and the protection back at the dist bd will be too great.

Option 3 or 4 is best

I assume the supply to the double socket is part of a ring main wired in 2.5mm T&E cable, so to include the spur unit into the ring...
1. Isolate the socket ring and pull one of the cables up from the existing socket.
2. Take this cable and connect it into your new FUSED spur unit.
3. Link the new spur and existing socket with 2.5mm T&E cable.
The spur can be mounted at high level to reduce the amount tracking.

Others will add to this comment so don't rush into the job without reading their views.

 

[Big_Spark]

ginster, the spur for your cooker hood can safely be taken off the LOAD side of the cooker switch.

This will ensure the circuit is correctly isolated should you need to work on it for one, the cooker switch would need to be ON to operate the hood.

If you do it this way the FCU need not be the switched type, it only need be a fused unit with a 3A fuse in it. That way when you turn the cooker on, the hood will have power, but when you turn the cooker off, it to will be isolated.

 

[mick1970]

Thanks everyone for the replies - much appreciated.

I noted that everyone except FWL_engineer is against option 1 (taking the spur off the cooker switch). However, since the cooker switch has a socket built into it, into which I could presumably plug something power hungry like a kettle, then if I replaced the switch to one WITHOUT a socket, and took a spur from it, then the load would be less than the potential load I could currently have... would that then make it acceptable??

 

[Inspector]

ginster
If your going to go down that route then I wouldn't bother changing the cooker switch as the fan won't use much power. Come off the live side of the cooker switch (meaning you can have the fan on without the cooker being on) in a radial circuit using the same size of cable as the cooker switch supply cable (probably 6mm T&E). You'll then terminate the new cable in a switched fused spur unit (switched may be preferable for maintenance purposes) and come off the spur into the fan using the flex which I assume is supplied with the fan unit.

Notes
Don't forget to sleeve your earth conductors on T&E cable using 'earth sleeving material'
The terminals marked FEED on the spur are were you terminate the supply from the cooker switch (the LOAD is for the fan flex)
Make sure your terminations are sound - especially at the cooker switch live side.
Change the fuse in the spur to suit the rating of the fan.
Earth the back box as well as the face plate of the spur.

 

[Big_Spark]

Ginster, that is why I said take from the LOAD side of the cooker switch as it gives you double protection.

If you don't use the socket in the plate then you could change the faceplate, but unless it is one of the really old ugly ones I don't see the point.