French supply for double oven.

[housebasher]

I have been asked buy a relitive if she can take a new Hotpoint Double oven ( approx 5.5KW) out to her cottage in France, does any one know if there is there is normaly a 32A supply or close to it feed into the Kitchens of French property.
The oven she has out there now, from her discription I would guess to be one of those single 2.2KW types and proberly feed from a socket.

 

[Diyisfun]

You need to find out if its 3 phase or single.
Ask hotpoint if that model will work (can it be modified) in my young days we would modify or make as a special.

Just found
http://www.totalfrance.com/france/fiches.php?fiche_id=29
So its single phase...should be ok as long as the supply to the property is adequate

 

[housebasher]

A bit of confusion I think, the oven is a single phase domestic type.
Reading your link it would suggest, that there would not normally be a feed with enough current to supply it.
Interesting reading from your link, I had to laugh about the consumer suppling there own EARTH system.

 

[mointainwalker]

In France the consumer can choose the power supply they want and this will be marked on the bill. More power =higher standing charge.

What is so strange about the earth system ? It is likely that your relative's cottage will have an earth-stake.

 

[housebasher]

Mountain walker, thanks for the reply, would it therefore be usual for renavated French property to already have a single phase supply in the Kitchen that could run a cooker of approx 5.5Kw ?
As for the Earth rod, its not the Earth rod that I found amusing, we use them here, mostly with the overhead power feed TT system (Tera Tera) its more the fact that its installation and use is down to the consumers discretion.

 

[mointainwalker]

The current electrical regs ( NFC 15-100) which apply to new build or renovation where a planning application was submitted after 01/06/2003, require a 32 A feed to the kitchen as well as 3 x 16 A "dedicated circuits" for large appliances.

If there was already an electrical supply in situ, there would have been no need to contact the electricity supply bodies about the works and therefore , whether or not the regs were followed would be down to the professionalism or conscientiousness of whoever carried out the work.

Really, however, the only circumstances where I would think there wouldn't be a suitable feed would be if the previous owners cooked with bottled gas ( fairly common in the countryside ), didn't intend changing and therefore didn't bother with the 32 A feed

I'm sorry, but I still don't understand the bit about the earth - not a sparky, you see.


There is no discretion. The same regs specify an "appropriate earth" is required, give the required pass/fail resistance and where a new supply is required, this is tested before connection.

HTH

 

[Donkmeister]

Interesting about how the tarriff depends on your maximum supply current... that would certainly encourage people to consider the implications of turning on high-power devices.

 

[BLX]

Interesting about how the tarriff depends on your maximum supply current... that would certainly encourage people to consider the implications of turning on high-power devices.

Yes, you select the size of your supply, which is then set by the electricity supplier by adjusting the main supply trip. There's a bit of leeway; a typical 45A (9kVA supply) trips at about 51 amps.

The widespread use of electric heating in France has given rise to a device known as a "délesteur" which measures the incoming current &, in the event of your chosen tariff being exceeded (i.e. when the kettle gets put on whilst the heating is all on) switches off non-essential circuits - the heating in a bedroom, or the water heater for example. Once the short term high load goes off, normality is restored. There can be a cascade of zones of non-priority depending on the complexity required.

The point of this is that you can keep paying a lower tariff all year without the fear of tripping things out in the winter. You can only change your tariff once a year, so there is a logic in all this.