no spaces at Consumer unit

[esox]

I wish to install a electric oven but have no spaces on my consumer unit, on my unit in have:

Shower 30
Up Plugs 30
Down Plugs 30
Up Lights 5
Down lights 5
Immersion Heater 15

Can I move the lights on to one fuse of there own or can I share the shower supply?
Or would I need to have another consumer unit fitted?

I have not yet purchased the oven yet

 

[brown-nought]

Firstly it is not advisable to join the lighting circuits together there may be (a) be too much load for one circuit and (b) if the fuse blows you loose all your lights. Also you cannot share a shower circuit with anything.

I'd advise you to consider an entirely new consumer unit. However it may be worth getting professional advice before you proceed any further. Your incoming electricity supply may need updating for example and your fusebox sounds like it uses rewireable fuses?.

Get a qualified electrician to quote for adding the new circuit - see what they sugest before you spend any money yourself or new cookers or consumer units.

If after they have quoted the work sounds like something you feel confident in tackling then come back to this forum for practical advise.

 

[dingbat]

I have not yet purchased the oven yet

If you are not intending to have an electric hob - just the oven - then the majority are below 3kW and many come supplied with a moulded 13 Amp plug. An oven uses relatively little power as it basically an insulated box - it's the hob that consumes the power.

 

[plugwash]

what do you pro sparkys think to this idea?

put a 16A breaker in the CU and lead this to a grid plus box with two fuses in it one for each lighting cuircuit

this will free up a way in the CU for your new cuircuit

 

[dingbat]

Given the circuit sizes he's either got fuses or BS3871 Type 1 MCB's.

Plug's idea is fine for somebody who knows what grid plus is, but brown-nought's suggestion of calling in a sparky is probably more helpful. Rather than add what is in effect a second consumer unit, I'd have thought a replacement CU makes sense.

 

[brown-nought]

My gut instinct bearing in mind the existing fuse box has only 6 ways, 30 Amp shower circuit - no mention of an RCD to protect it or the downstairs sockets etc is that it is probably an installation predating 16th edition of the regs (before 1991) and as such there is no harm in getting a professional to sugest options/quote.

What size is the main fuse, meter tails, primary bonding etc - all the usual things that if you see first hand helps you to decide what to do.

I guess the options are (in my personal preference order)

1) Replace consumer unit with a new split load type - plenty of ways for the cooker etc
2) Split the tails and add a new consumer unit for the shower with RCD protection (may be move the ring into it as well) then use the shower way for the cooker circuit.
3) If the cooker is low powered (< 3Kw) it might (might) be ok to add it to the ring either at a socket or via an FCU but I note there is only one ring in the house.
4) If its a gas cooker and power is only for the light/time - obviously just plug it in.

Hope this helps.