Lamona built in oven installed by disability company burned out our cupboards and could have killed us

[Tarano17]

We had a Lamona built in electric oven installed by the disability team of our LA. The company that installed it Effectable placed it on top of a wooden cupboard which then burned through our cupboards. This was only discovered today when our oven stopped working and the LA sent Effectable to remove faulty oven and a burned out shell was left behind in our cupboard. What made the situation worse is that Effectable tried to pressure me into letting them put a new Lamona oven into a burned out shell but I refused. I got the local fire authority to inspect it and they said the fire was caused by Effectable installing an oven on top of a wooden board and any reputable electrican would know this is a fire hazard. Effectable have just contacted me to say they want to come back and install a new oven but this time install a metal plate first but because of what happened and them trying to force me into accepting their dangerous workmanship today AIBU to refuse to let them install anything electrical into my home again? Photos attached.

That's awful and so lucky it didn't cause a fire. Agree refuse any further work by this company and complain to the LA about them.

Sounds like oven was faulty TBH majority of built in ovens are housed in wooden/mdf units.
There is something wrong oven casing should not get that hot it burns a cupboard.

Hi,
I hope you don't mind me getting in touch. I work in the social media team at Howdens. We noticed your post regarding your Lamona oven and were sorry to read about your experience. Our appliances team would welcome the opportunity to discuss the issue with you and to help where we can. If you're happy for us to do so then could you provide us with your name and a contact number to [email protected] and we will be in contact shortly.

Thanks, Harriet.

This is really worrying

I have installed lamona when I worked at another company

Please can you let me know the year of install?

I'll flag with my old bosses as it was what we put into shared owership homes ( at the SL request)

The disability company that installed mine was Effectable Homes/ Effectable Construction Ltd. This oven was provided to me by the Disability Home Improvements Team at our local council. It was installed 2-3 years ago but the Fure Authority said Effectable did not install it correctly. Those idiots even wanted to install a new oven into my burned out cupboard and told me the cupboard was “sound” and “You don’t have to use it. It can just sit there”! Effectable don’t care about safety at all and their negligence could have killed us.

@rwalker

Sounds like oven was faulty TBH majority of built in ovens are housed in wooden/mdf units. There is something wrong oven casing should not get that hot it burns a cupboard.

There's a difference between being 'housed in' and 'resting on'.

Every built-in I've put in or taken out (admittedly only 6 in my life) has had metal brackets or a shelf to rest on. Is that not standard then?

If the OP had the model number we could probably find the installation instructions.

Wow sorry this has happened @Tarano17 I think my Lamona oven has very specific installation instructions/electrical sign off (2016) so ai would be inclined to think it is an installation issue rather than the make of oven. So scary !

@FishesaPlenty No metal brackets were provided with mine and this is what the Fire Authority said a metal plate should have been installed. Effectable Homes did just sit the built in oven on top of my wooden cupboard. I will try and find the model number.

I had a visit from a Council Disability Home Improvement team manager that thought it was funny and said “what happened here. Did you burn your food”? The council staff are not taking what happened seriously.

@Tarano17 Have you got the model number?

I'm looking at the instructions for a Lamona LAM3407, for example, and it does seem to just rest on a wooden shelf.

@FishesaPlenty I think this is the model number but not sure. Is it LAM3206? I thought because it has LAM in front of it that means that is the model number. Do you recognise it?

That is the model number. If you Google it and 'manual' it will bring up the manual for you with installation guidelines it states that there must be a ventilation gap cut out ...which there isn't.

@orangecinnamon Thanks very much for that. It makes the comments made by my local authorities Disabled Home Improvement Team “what happened here. Did you burn your food?” even more unbelievable. I very much appreciate yours and everyone else’s help with this. I have contacted the Howdens CEO Andrew Livingston to advise him of what occurred. Just wait and see what happens now but what I know for sure is that I will never get another inbuilt oven and will not let the Council’s external contractors in to do electrical work again. I have been on to the council all day as they have outsourced checking the kitchen electrics to another company that does disability home improvement but after what has happened I would feel we will be safer if the Council’s own electricians do it. As I rent from the council and don’t own my property I am hoping they won’t insist on outsourcing it.

Good job. I think we have the same oven 🤔 not sure how I could check my installation easily

Wow.

I suggest you take advice on how to make a MASSIVE complaint about this, and that includes the utterly, totally inappropriate response from the manager who visited you.

@orangecinnamon That’s the thing. Once it’s installed and connected to the electrics there is no way of checking if it was installed correctly unless another electrician comes out and does it. I could not have done it myself and I think that is why Effectable Homes were so fast in pressuring me to let them install a new Lamona oven into my burned out cupboard. Cover up is an understatement.

@YoniAndGuy a claim is no good if you and your loved ones are killed or badly burned in a fire. I just want to alert others parents about what my happened to me with my Lamona oven so they can be more on guard and less trusting that the Council’s external contractors will safely install electrical equipment. Effectable Homes are a very dangerous company and I want to shout this out as loud as possible so op’s can beware. Once is enough. I have asked my local council to get their own electricians to do checks off all the works Effectable have done for them as they do a lot of work for the elderly as well and did Disability renovations to a house a few doors up from me as well. Fingers crossed that the local council do get all of the work they contracted out to Effectable Homes checked so that nobody else is put at risk like this again.