Kitchen Wiring

[mbeamethyst]

Hi, we've been advised by an electrician working for the company installing our new kitchen that the cabling for the extractor hood can not be connected to the 32amp supply for the hob. The previous extractor was connected in this way. He has advised that as there is no other electrical ring main on the wall that it is wired into the loft and into the lighting circuit.

I had thought that the hood could be connected to the hob supply provided it has a switched fuse to protect it.

Is the electrician correct in what he is advising?

Thanks

 

[sparkwright]

Personally I don't like tapping things off the cooker circuit, and would rather the extractor fan was on the lighting circuit, if the socket circuit is not an option.

 

[mbeamethyst]

Thanks for the reply. Can you tell me why you don't like tapping off the cooker circuit? I guess we're just wondering why there is the recommendation to change the way its wired when the wiring for the hood tapped off the cooker originally whereas we thought just adding the fused spur to provide additional protection would be sufficient.

 

[MalcofArabia]

Personally I don't like tapping things off the cooker circuit, and would rather the extractor fan was on the lighting circuit, if the socket circuit is not an option.

Not sure if this is a bungalow or not but a bit of a run from a kitchen normally on a ground floor to the loft.

Also if he developed a fault on the hood would the kitchen lights go out? Nothing like scrambling in the dark in a kitchen.

No can't see why you can't come of the cooker supply provided it incorporates a FCU and the correct cartridge fuse for the hood. Think the sparks is a bit reluctant to perhaps bring a spur of the cooker point for some reason. Can not be an overload issue as he suggested connecting to the lights.

I would have thought it would have been a good design to have cooker and hood on the same supply, better than cooker with hood on the lighting supply. Though I know it is common practice espicially by kitchen companies to do that

 

[ericmark]

I can see no good reason not to power the hood off the cooker supply. 433.2.2 allows up to 3 meters of cable between cooker supply and FCU and that should be ample. It does mean two cables into the cooker isolator but that is not normally a problem.
I have had electricians who have listened to Chinese whispers in the past and are convinced they can't do something but when given the regulations and asked where does it say that have had to change their mind.
Sockets near a sink is a good example where there is nothing to stop you having a socket under the sink to power grinder but they try and say it has to be a meter away.
So try asking him what the regulation number is which says he can't fit it.

 

[mbeamethyst]

Thanks. Both of these replies exactly our thinking and good to know the regs to back this up so we can discuss with the electrician.

BTW way yes the property is a bungalow.

 

[Taylortwocities]

Every bungalow I have worked on has reasonably easy access to at least one socket circuit in the roof, from which a spur can be run.

This is a much better option than connecting to a cooker circuit IMO.

 

[mbeamethyst]

Every bungalow I have worked on has reasonably easy access to at least one socket circuit in the roof, from which a spur can be run.

This is a much better option than connecting to a cooker circuit IMO.

In our bungalow, all the socket circuits are under the floor (with less than 12" space to work in) and the nearest crcuit to where the hood is going to be is over 3m away.

 

[Taylortwocities]

OK. How is access to the consumer unit, from the roof space?

Is it possible to drop some 2.5mm to the CU and run as a spur from one of the socket ring finals?

 

[pjcomp]

I was always taught that the only addition allowed to a cooker circuit is if the cooker switch has a socket built into it, but I don't recall a specific reg stating that (maybe in the OSG...?) But having a 32A breaker and 6mm cable militates against extending the circuit with anything smaller, such as 2.5 or 1.5 to a cooker hood, and running 6mm to a fused spur is an ugly way of doing it. Pick uo the feed from the lighting circuit and drop it from the ceiling (assuming your cooker hood has the usual 3-5A requirement).

PJ

 

[skenk]

There's nothing wrong with feeding it from the cooker supply as long as it is fused down with an FCU within 3m of where it taps into the cooker cabling. It would be preferable to have it on the ring/socket circuit but NOT required. You don't need to use 6mm as long as the FCU is within 3m.