combi microwave

[Stuart Noble]

As we do very little catering these days, I'm thinking of a Sharp R959SLMA or similar as a main oven (to replace the freestanding gas cooker).

'd like to build this into a tall oven housing but. with this being the

only appliance in there, I'm wondering whether I'll be left with odd spaces for which there will be no doors or drawers available. If anyone has done a similar thing, I'd be interested to know. Sharp sell an inset grill for this purpose

it appears to just create a ventilation space, which I'm reluctant to pay £100 for.

Although this comes with a 13 amp plug, a quick calculation suggests I'd need to upgrade the 2.5 ring main. Actually, thinking of all the usual appliances that *could* be run at the same time (and that's without a tumble dryer), we might be sailing a little close to the wind already. My plan would be to have a cooker socket installed anyway in case the microwave idea doesn't work out and we go for an electric oven. Would the microwave have to be hard wired into that, or do they come with a 13 amp socket?

Any thoughts/gotchas appreciated.

[Roger Mills]

> but it appears to just create a ventilation space, which I'm reluctant

If the device is designed to be free-standing - where it would be naturally ventillated - it may well need extra ventillation when it's built in.

Are you saying that it takes more than 13 amps? If so, the 13A fuse in the plug may blow even if you give it a dedicated radial circuit with a 13A socket at the end. FWIW, cooker control units invariably come with a 13A outlet in addition to the terminals for hard-wiring a cooker - but it may not do you any good!

If you're going to hard-wire it, and join the cables inside the tall unit, you don't actually need a cooker control unit - just use a suitable in-line junction box. When our new kitchen was installed recently, the (Bosch) combi-microwave hadn't arrived by the time the electrician had finished, so he just left the dedicated radial circuit terminated with one of these fancy junction boxes which have spring-loaded push-in terminals - so I just had to push the wires in when it finally arrived.

[Andrew Gabriel]

it is very good. However, I wouldn't consider it as a replacement for a main oven, because it's much more difficult to clean, not having stay-clean or removable liners. I would worry about its longevity if frequently used at 200C for long periods too, although I don't have any evidence to back this up (mine has never gone wrong). It makes a very good second oven though, and gets used as such when I'm doing a large meal such as Christmas dinner for the extended family. I would also say it's claimed microwave output is a bit optimistic, when compared with other microwaves I've used, but that doesn't matter once you've factored it in. That could just me my sample, rather than across the ranges.

You can install a cooker circuit, and terminate with a 13A socket outlet for the time being (might as well be unswitched, since you'll have a cooker switch for it anyway). Use a deep back box though so that it handles the thick cable well. I have a 32A cooker circuit, terminating with a 13A socket, into which the spark ignitor on the gas hob is currently connected. A bit overkill, but if I want to switch to electic hob anytime, the circuit is there.

[Stuart Noble]

But then I can just leave the recommended gap without splashing out on a stainless steel grill fascia

No, it's under 3kw, but add that to the washing machine, kettle, toaster etc, all of which could be on at the same time, and the 2.5 ring main could be overloaded I imagine.

[Stuart Noble]

Yes, the cleaning issue seems to crop up a lot. I guess the grill element at the top takes some punishment. I'll have to look into that

[NT]

its normal to have that lot and a bit more on one ring circuit, and more or less never a problem. a) the 30/32A rating is continuous, peak current can be significantly higher, and often is. b) diversity means that all those loads dont draw 13A at once, even if they're all running simultaneously.

Re a combi cooker, I'd suggest that separate oven and nuke are much better, even for one person. But as you say, the oven can be just desktop sized. The ideal I think is a combi plus a separate microwave- only.

NT

[auctions]

If your budget can stretch, I'd upgrade to a proper oven that microwaves as well, rather than a microwave with an oven feature added

- something like

used a De Dietrich one (DME399) as our only oven for a few years, and it was great - even cooked a full roast goose dinner in it. They are standard oven width too, and designed to be built in to an oven housing.

A

[Stuart Noble]

Unwanted Xmas present? Neff? Which lorry did that fall off the back of I wonder.

Looks like they do a 5 year guarantee as well. If they pushed it to 10, like Miele, I might be tempted