New cooker - Old house.

[BoDon]

Hi, I have recently moved into an older house (1977 ish) and I have just bought an electric double oven to replace the old gas cooker.
The house has GCH which has replaced the electric boiler(no longer exists).
Before I attempt to install the oven (with 10mm2 cable), I have a couple of questions:
1) When I moved the old cooker, i noticed a covered socket behind it, presumably where an electric oven had been installed previous to the installation of gas. There is also a 'neon' 45a switch? on the wall above the work-top which doesn't illuminate when switched (both are wired to something?) how would I safely test both of these to know what they are connected to? if they are live or dead? or if the light on the switch is faulty?
2) If I pull the 'cooker fuse' out from the CU, can I be sure that the switch is indeed on the cooker circuit and is dead? If I isolate the the whole CU, how would I know if i'm on the correct circuit or not?.

Probably getting myself into a fluster, but rather be safe than sorry, your input would be appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[Qedelec]

No sure way of checking this without proper test equipment ( a wet finger does not constitute proper equipment)
Either buy a test meter or call a professional, what price safety?

 

[BoDon]

Thanks for your reply Qedelec,
Just nipped home from the office at lunch time, I pulled the the cooker fuse to find out if anything else may have been wired up to the afore mentioned socket/switch (such as the GCH or shower unit)...no joy everything static as before.

I'll will call in a sparky and get the whole house inspected... should maybe get him/her to install a modern CU while they are at it.

Thanks again.
Best regards.

 

[Qedelec]

Good call, I used to do all my own electrics before becoming an electrician and thought I was safe but there are no end of things you don't know. A thorough PIR should take a few hours and will highlight all the areas that require work and prioritise them.