Wiring for kitchen appliances

[marksecond]

Should kitchen appliances such as dishwasher, washing machine etc have:

i) a FCU above worktop feeding a flex outlet below
ii) FCU above worktop feeding unswitched socket below
iii) 20Amp DP switch above worktop feeding unswitched socket below

Any help is appreciated as I'm not sure of the correct way

PS Does a gas hob igniter just have a flex. Should this be controlled by FCU or switch or can it just go into flex outlet or socket??

Cheers

Mark (In final year of C&G 2330 but limited practical experience!)

 

[Gaz the Sparky]

1 Flex outlet plate requires a fuse so FCU
2 Ok but not ideal cos of 2 fuses in the circuit 1 plugtop 2 FCU
3 Must use socket outlet to provide a fuse

So either option 1 or 3

GTS

 

[Adam_151]

i) a FCU above worktop feeding a flex outlet below

The main issue with that idea is it requires the appliance to be hardwired... not going to be good on removal day, and wires the new owners of the house to wire their machines in, and the old ones to re-fit BS1363 plugs, if you think back to why the 1994 plugs and sockets regulations were brought in (even though they can't directly be applied here) it was because a lot of people make a dogs dinner of even wiring a plug (I've lost count of how many times I've had to re-do them for people!)

If you do use this idea, might be wise to use 15A BS546 unfused S/O and plugs, that makes the issue a little less and also allows the washing machine service engineer to physically disconnect it before working on it.

Done with 15A plugs and sockets its not a bad way of doing things IMHO, but still has its faults

ii) FCU above worktop feeding unswitched socket below

Two fuses, not really that great as they'll fail to discriminate, also if the one behind goes you've got to pull the machine out (but chances are if it goes, the machine probably needs pulling out in order to fix it anyway....)

iii) 20Amp DP switch above worktop feeding unswitched socket below

Still the minor issue of hidden fuse, but at least it'll discriminate, slight issue here is if you are using a 32A circuit and use the supply terminals of the switch to loop through onto the next, etc... that could be seen as a non-compliance by some, its not like a SO or FCU where it'd been designed to do this, and while the terminals are probably the same, maybe bbest to ask the maker for conformation that the terminals are suitable for this?

PS Does a gas hob igniter just have a flex. Should this be controlled by FCU or switch or can it just go into flex outlet or socket??

Do it the same way as you do the rest of the appliances, but fit 3A fuse

(In final year of C&G 2330 but limited practical experience!)

I'm still on the part 2, shouldn't it be you giving me advice?

 

[luminaire]

You need to plug your appliance in somewhere, so that means it will be more convenient to have the socket below the work surface.
This means once your appliance is in place you won't have access to it, so an unswitched socket is best.
Now you will want to able to switch it on/off, should you ever want to pull it out to work on it or replace it. You would normally unplug it anyway. That means it doesn't need to be fused so a 20A D/P switch will suffice.

 

[marksecond]

Thanks for your help guys

I was planning to use the 20Amp DP switch down to unswitched socket method

slight issue here is if you are using a 32A circuit and use the supply terminals of the switch to loop through onto the next, etc... that could be seen as a non-compliance by some

Maybe I'll use FCU down to unswitched socket

f you do use this idea, might be wise to use 15A BS546 unfused S/O and plugs

Do you mean retain the fuse within the FCU but remove fuse from appliance plug?


I work outside of the trade at the moment and it's things such as this that you aren't taught at college!!

Thanks for your help

 

[marksecond]

Sorry, just realised BS546 are the unfused round pin type

 

[Steve]

Put the socket ABOVE the worktop, and drill a hole in the worktop big enough to push the flex through.

<runs and hides>

 

[plugwash]

if its a small hole then thats almost as bad from the pov of getting the appliance out as a flex outlet plate.

i can't imagine many people would wan't a plug size hole in thier worktop and even a small hole with a flex coming out would be ugly as hell (and a pain to clean too).

 

[Steve]

if its a small hole then thats almost as bad from the pov of getting the appliance out as a flex outlet plate.

i can't imagine many people would wan't a plug size hole in thier worktop and even a small hole with a flex coming out would be ugly as hell (and a pain to clean too).

Yeah, you should have seen my mum's old kitchen. A hole for the fridge, a hole for the washing machine extension (yes, extension, and a pretty grotty one at that - the nearest socket was about 4 metres away)

Thankfully I was present when they were fitting the new kitchen and managed to restrain them from drilling holes in the worktop once more.

 

[ebee]

If the flex hole in the worktop was big enough to push the plug thru it would be more practical, but not look very nice though

 

[Steve]

If the flex hole in the worktop was big enough to push the plug thru it would be more practical, but not look very nice though

you can say that again!

my dad used to just cut the sealed plug off to thread it through and find a few bits of plugs from his toolbox, make one up, and fit it to the new appliance.

 

[RF Lighting]

You could fit a table grommet in the worktop