new oven electrics

[pandaman]

I have a built in electric oven under a gas hob, both were in the house as a new build over 25 yrs ago. I may replace it soon as there have been a couple of problems with it. I do not know if it is hard wired in or plugged into a socket and the only way I can see to tell is to take out the oven but as I am getting on in years and have osteoporosis of the spine which has resulted in 4 spontaneous vertebral fractures over the last 4 years I will find the oven too heavy for me. There is a switch for the oven with a red light on it on the wall above the worktop to one side of the hob. The instructions for the oven say to have a 13 or 15 amp fuse. Would the main switch be a 15 amp, if so could there still be a socket behind the oven for a 13amp plug? The main fuse box in the garage has a dedicated trip for the oven, it says B32 above it. Is this an amp reading? some of the lighting circuits have B6 above them. A bit confusing for an amateur like me. If the oven is hard wired I suppose there is a spur, (is that what you call them?) on the wall, if so can that be changed to a 3 pin socket as most new ovens nowadays say they are plug in, though some can be either hard wired or plug in. Any advice would be welcome.

 

[EFLImpudence]

Would the main switch be a 15 amp, if so could there still be a socket behind the oven for a 13amp plug?

The switch will be more than 15A but that is only what it can cope with, not a fuse.
There could be a socket or a cooker connector behind.

The main fuse box in the garage has a dedicated trip for the oven, it says B32 above it. Is this an amp reading?

Yes 32A - standard cooker circuit.

A bit confusing for an amateur like me. If the oven is hard wired I suppose there is a spur, (is that what you call them?) on the wall,

Sort of, could be, but not really - it is the 'cooker' circuit.

if so can that be changed to a 3 pin socket as most new ovens nowadays say they are plug in, though some can be either hard wired or plug in. Any advice would be welcome.

Yes, if the oven comes with a plug.

Whatever it is, you can connect the new oven to the circuit by whichever method it requires.

 

[pandaman]

Thanks for that, it is alot clearer now.