Wiring Options For Oven

[tavish]

As part of fitting new kitchen I plan to completely rewire the kitchen as there is currently only a single cooker point / socket. (Note this point will be removed as want to move the cooker position)

I plan to put the kitchen on a separate ring main and originally blindly assumed I would also need a radial cooker circuit to a new cooker control unit.

Although I have yet to decide exactly what oven / hob I will get, chances are it will be a single built in electric oven with separate gas hob & cooker hood. This implies I can probably run everything off the main kitchen ring main as the oven will be < 3kW.

Seems like no need for the cooker control unit then ... but this is not very future proof for me or future occupiers if I/they fancy a big electric cooker. If I do put in the cooker control unit can/should I use it to connect to a small (<3kW) electric oven???

 

[breezer]

it would be nice for the (long way off) future owners if you put in a cooker point, but suppose they like cooking on gas like you.

you could do as you intend but i wouldn't

 

[ban-all-sheds]

100% put in a dedicated cooker circuit wired with at least 6mm.

Even ignoring niceties for future buyers, what if at some time you decide you want a double oven?

And at this stage the marginal cost of a proper cooker circuit is marginal.

 

[tavish]

And use it for the single oven now???

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Yup - if you use a CCU with a socket you could just plug it in there.

 

[tavish]

I would prefer to connect under worktop. Assumming I wired from CU to 45A CCU in 6mm, and from CCU to Cooker outlet in 6mm this would enable a bigger cooker to be connected straight in to the cooker outlet. If I connected my small cooker to this same cooker outlet I guess I would need to reduce the size of the MCB on the CU to ensure the cooker cannot draw to much current. Is this correct?

 

[plugwash]

personally i would fit a single unswitched socket instead of a cooker outlet

this way the plug fuse protects your single oven while still allowing a full 13A from the socket on the cooker control unit

and if anyone wants a double oven in future they can just take the socket off and fit a cooker outlet

 

[tavish]

sounds very sensible - thanks you. I will also need to connect the gas hob up (under worktop), could I spur a second single socket off the cooker socket, or should I cater for this on the main kitchen ring?

 

[breezer]

spur off main ring for hob, but since you haven't done it yet, why not put socket in on ring?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I would prefer to connect under worktop. Assumming I wired from CU to 45A CCU in 6mm, and from CCU to Cooker outlet in 6mm this would enable a bigger cooker to be connected straight in to the cooker outlet. If I connected my small cooker to this same cooker outlet I guess I would need to reduce the size of the MCB on the CU to ensure the cooker cannot draw to much current. Is this correct?

A debateable point - the MCB is there to protect the cable - if the oven develops a short then it's büggered anyway.

OOI - if you didn't reduce it, what size MCB were you planning?

 

[tavish]

Well, technically speaking my question was incorrect as it would not be a reduction as there is nothing there yet!

What I meant was to reduce it from the typical 30/45A used for a cooker circuit to 20A used for a normal radial power circuit.

 

[plugwash]

i would stick with a 32A breaker and use a socket in place of the cooker connection unit as mentioned

i wouldn't want to wire a cooker with normal flex designed to be plugeed into a socket direct into a cuircuit of above 16A

and downrating the bbreaker to 16A would mean you could draw very little out of the socket on the cooker control unit with the oven running

 

[tavish]

Sorry, now I am confused, if you mean leave the cooker circuit on a 30/45A MCB, and connect the cooker to a plug socket in place of the cooker outlet (as you suggested previously) then surely this is doing exactly what you wouldn't do according to your last post (plug in to circuit > 16A). Or, do you now mean plug it in to a socket on the main ring (which will still be > 16A).

Don't worry too much, the wife is insisting we spend twice as much on a double oven now!

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Sorry, now I am confused, if you mean leave the cooker circuit on a 30/45A MCB, and connect the cooker to a plug socket in place of the cooker outlet (as you suggested previously) then surely this is doing exactly what you wouldn't do according to your last post (plug in to circuit > 16A).

No - he said he wouldn't want to wire a cooker with normal flex designed to be plugeed into a socket direct into a cuircuit of above 16A

Don't worry too much, the wife is insisting we spend twice as much on a double oven now!

Told you so...

 

[plugwash]

yes i meant as in my previous post just clarifying why

if using a socket in place of a cooker outlet i would keep the breaker on the cuircuit to 32A as well