If I buy an electric cooker, do I need someone to fit it? Or can I just plug it in?

[F0XCUB88]

Thank you. It costs £80 extra for installation, don't you just plug it in?

It needs to be wired in, it doesn't use a standard plug socket.

They’re also surprisingly heavy. Definitely a 2 man lift.

Cookers are usually on their own circuit as they draw so much current.

it depends - built in single ovens may in fact be plug ins; some induction hobs too ; but a regular freestanding oven, grill, 4 ring hob all in one will
require it’s own heavy duty connection

Check the model and manual. Ours just plugs in. I think it might be a heavy load outlet of some type, that I’m not sure, but it is not wired in.

You can pull out your current one and take a look at your setup. You will also get to experience the horror of many dust bunnies and if you have cats a collection of small toys.

They are hard wired in, have you already got an electric cooker as you need a special socket for them. Some electrical work you can do yourself if you are competent like charging light fittings but I don't think cooker installation if you already have the socket is one of those things you are allowed to do yourself, you would need to check.

Which is your cooker OP it may just have a plug

They’re not all hard wired… some do just plug into a socket. You’ll have to check.

@F0XCUB88 When you say cooker do you mean a freestanding one? My built in oven is a plug in but my induction hob is hard wired due to the amount of current it needs ie more than a 13amp fuse in a plug can handle.

It should say on the website about needing an electrician which means hard wired, if not google the model and instruction manual so you can see and make a choice.

My built in single oven is plugged in. Not all are hard wired

Please do not attempt any electrical work yourself! If its an oven that you can plug in then fair enough, but an actual freestanding cooker needs the proper cable and hardwiring , its not a DIY job. You need to check what the instructions say, and take note.

If you're going from gas to electric make sure you actually have the socket for it! I didn't and they delivered and had to take it away again. As others have said, it needs to be a specific heavy duty one. Not all kitchens have them, as I found out.

If it is a plug in one, you should think about what's on the same circuit. Otherwise you'll find it keeps tripping and/or will gradually damage the wiring if it's overloading it.

If you have one of these on your wall, you have a dedicated cooker socket;

Sorry picture won't load!!! If you have a switch that says cooker on it then you are OK. The switch may be on the wall away from where the socket that you have to hardwire it into. Mine is behind the cooker , but the switch isn't near the socket.

I organised an electrician for new built in oven as thought they were all on a wired in socket.......he took it out of the box and just plugged it in🙈

Our hob is wired into it’s own heavy load circuit but the oven is plug in. You will need to look at the specifications as other people have said.

If you've already got an electric cooker with the appropriate wiring in place, it's easy to wire the new one in - it's just like wiring a plug, I've done it several times. You're probably not actually allowed to under regulations these days, but if you're reasonably competent I'd take the risk. How would anyone find out?

If they want to be paid , I think you can assume that it does need to be wired in. Most of the electrical outlets charge what is essentially a call out fee to wire into an existing,suitable outlet, so you still need to check if you have the suitable outlet.

DH has done ours, the modern ones literally just plug in like computer peripherals, it's all colour coded.

Some you actually have a physical plug.

I'd risk it and if it turns out to be harder than expected, ring around local electricians?

We couldn't find a freestanding electric cooker that we could just plug-in, we had to have an electric point fitted by an electrician, I did look for one as we couldn't have a new gas cooker as the regulations had changed since our last one and the kitchen space wasn't appropriate. Are the plug-in ones mainly built in separates

After we had the electric point fitted the only mainstream company that would disconnect a gas cooker and connect an electric cooker were AO.com so we used them, they were very reasonable price and took our old gas cooker away and fitted our electric one. Other retailers would only do like for like.

Depends, freestanding cooker or built in oven?

The latter is fine to plug in, although they no longer come with a plug, you have to fit your own.

Freestanding cooker MUST be wired in.