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Original poster

Dull but important question for people who know about electrics...... ***Is it LAW that a built in cooker/hob must be wired into an isolator type switch (ie not just a normal plug & socket scenario) ?****

83 replies

NomDePlume · 25/04/2006 11:35

The cooker at our (possibly) new house (not exchanged yet, supposed to complete Fri) is not working. I've located the switch, but it looks like a normal double socket (like the ones you plug the kettle/toaster/tv into). I can see the wire from the cooker that needs to be connected but it appears to be a normal 3-wire one, like plugs wire at home.

I thought built in appliances ran off a different voltage and so they couldn't just be plugged in by anyone, the had to be wired in by an electrician and given a certificate ?

OP posts:
Original poster
NomDePlume · 25/04/2006 11:36

I should say that there is no plug on the end of the trailing wire, it is stripped and ready to be wired up, that's how I know what the wires inside are like.

OP posts:
LIZS · 25/04/2006 11:42

Not sure about a certificate, may only apply to rented properties like an annual Gas Safety Certificate, but agree I also thought it had to be wired in specifically by an electrician hence no plug supplied. Although we use a gas cooker there is a separate wall socket into which an electric one would be wired.

Original poster
NomDePlume · 25/04/2006 11:44

Yes quite. The built in fridge has one of those switches with the little light on, but the b/in dishwaher & cooked don't....

OP posts:
fuzzywuzzy · 25/04/2006 11:50

i'll ask dp in a bit, but our cooker (gas and elec combi), has a completely different switch not a normal one.

Original poster
NomDePlume · 25/04/2006 11:51

That's what I think it has to be fuzzywuzzy. Ours here (house built 8yrs ago) has the switch with the light on.

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EvesMama · 25/04/2006 11:53

there will be a connection behind the cooker that the open ended wire needs to be connected too9only know this cos we found it in here)..you do have to have someone who knows what they are doing to do it, not just a case of plugging in unfortunatly!

LadyTophamHatt · 25/04/2006 11:54

whne we moved here the last people had the cooker plugged in to a normal socket and when our new cooker arrived the bloke wouldn't install it because it didn't have a proper cooker switch.

It's all to do with the voltage. Cooker uses more than (or is it less) than a normal socket.

We had a bloody nightmare trying to get it installed because the cooker switch was to far away accoring to new laws. We had to move the switch and were withoutr an over for almost a month.

A right royal PITA!

Janh · 25/04/2006 11:54

The old proper cooker switch was converted into a double socket (inside a cupboard) when we had our kitchen fitted - one for the oven and one for the hob. It is the higher voltage circuit with nothing else on it but it was the kitchen fitter who did it - dunno if it's legit or not but had no probs with it.

With built in units the individual power use is lower than for a traditional all-in-one cooker - maybe that makes it OK.

LadyTophamHatt · 25/04/2006 11:56

oven not over

LadyTophamHatt · 25/04/2006 11:56

oven not over

Original poster
NomDePlume · 25/04/2006 11:58

I don't know, but the house was built by a developer and still has a small number of snagging issues. The seller (the developer) has a sparky on his staff (runs a small property development company) so I assume it'll all be legit . It may well be the 'hidden' (behind the drawer unit in the kitchen) normal-looking double socket is running off a different higher voltage circuit, as jan says.

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Janh · 25/04/2006 12:03

Has the house got one of those pop-out circuit-breaker fuse-boxes, NDP? If so the oven one is a different colour from the rest - at least on ours the lighting circuit buttons are white, the sockets red and the oven one is (I think) purple.

So if you plugged eg a radio into the hidden socket and then popped the oven button, if the radio went off you'd know that was it.

Hope this makes sense!

Or if it has a proper proper thing with labels on it should be even easier to tell?

Original poster
NomDePlume · 25/04/2006 12:04

Fuse box looks just like the one we have here, with little up and down switches, nothing that pulls out.

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fuzzywuzzy · 25/04/2006 12:08

Ok, dp says, the switch we have is for plugging in an electric hob (the top bit), we've got it incase we ever want en electric hob (dp wired our house).
An electric oven can take a normal socket.

A hob can't as the cable for electric hobs are fatter as they carry a greater load (don't ask me to explain further I have a tenuous grip on the answer as it is). hth

Original poster
NomDePlume · 25/04/2006 12:09

Ah, ok. Thanks for that fuzzy Smile. The oven is an electric fan jobby and the hob is gas (obv using a bit of electric to ignite)

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hub2dee · 25/04/2006 12:43

Hmmm... you might want to check what's been posted...

Electric Cookers (big square things) may take several kilowatts of power. They actually run at the same voltage as all your other appliances, but they consume more current. Normally, cookers are wired on their own cooker circuit cos they are so greedy. They shouldn't just go on the ring main as far as I know. The specs demand a much thicker cable to the oven connection too...

It will be dangerous to run a high wattage cooker off an ordinary ring main / plug.

You can however plug a gas hob (flat rectangular thing, just so we are using the same terms) into an ordinary socket as it only uses a little bit of juice for the ignition etc.

I would imagine that an electric hob needs to be treated similarly to a cooker, particularly if it is a high wattage output, but I have no experience of these.

HTH

hub2dee · 25/04/2006 12:45

\link{http://www.diynot.com/pages/el/el027.php\read this} (carefully) Grin

Original poster
NomDePlume · 25/04/2006 12:46

From what I remember from the days when I was renting, the cables were thicker than that of a normal small appliance. You've made me a bit scared now, hub....

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Original poster
NomDePlume · 25/04/2006 12:47

Hub, that link may as well have been written in Mandarin!

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fuzzywuzzy · 25/04/2006 12:54

Our electric oven is currently plugged into the cooker socket. But dp said that an oven can take a normal cosket a hob can't.

NDP if you are worried why not get a sparky out to take a look at the wiring of the new house.

If it's a recently wired house, does it not come with an inspection testing certificate??? This would guarantee your household wiring is safe.

hub2dee · 25/04/2006 13:04

Believe me, an oven cannot be plugged into an ordinary socket.

hub2dee · 25/04/2006 13:04

(unless the socket is on a dedicated circuit, not the ring main), and even then it would be plugged into a cooker connection thingy.

hub2dee · 25/04/2006 13:05

(Sorry Mr fuzzy, I'm pretty sure I'm right, particularly wrt 'normal' ovens rather than any little / special /camping ones etc. etc.)

DelGirl · 25/04/2006 13:06

Haven't read the whole thread but anything electrical these days has to be done by an electrician who then has to supply a certificate. A pita but better for safety I suppose.

fuzzywuzzy · 25/04/2006 13:06

Hub, I don't mean there's a plug going to the socket. The socket itself is different from the regular kind has a big red switch to flip. it's wired from the back there's no sight of any wiring or anything, I just play with the switch.....

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