Electric cooker

[chade]

Hello, My mother's old cooker has packed up. She has set her heart on a new Beko B DVF696XP. The problem is the old cooker was a single oven and the new one i s a double oven. While the old one plugged into a three pin switched cooker socket the new one would need to be hardwired. Would it be possible for a suitably qualified person to convert the switched cooker socket to a hard w iring point without running a new wire from the fuse box? From what I have read on the internet it seems wiring a cable and plug onto the back of the Beko and plugging it into the existing cooker socket would power the cooker but be unsafe due to the single/double polarity switching.

Thanks.

[tabbypurr]

BDVF696XP. The problem is the old cooker was a single oven and the new one is a double oven. While the old one plugged into a three pin switched cook er socket the new one would need to be hardwired. Would it be possible for a suitably qualified person to convert the switched cooker socket to a hard wiring point without running a new wire from the fuse box? From what I hav e read on the internet it seems wiring a cable and plug onto the back of th e Beko and plugging it into the existing cooker socket would power the cook er but be unsafe due to the single/double polarity switching.

switching is not particularly an issue. Current draw is. What's the rating plate on the Beko say for max consumption?

Chances are what you suggest will be fine, but one should make sure.

NT

[Robin]

It's advertised as 4.2kW so, given both ovens could be on a fair time, I hope the OP's not going to just stick it on ring, near one end, along with the washing machine, tumble drier, dishwasher, kettle, ... :)

[Alan Dawes]

Are you sure that it is a cooker socket - the switch should be larger than normal and will need more force to switch it than that for a normal socket switch.

If so then it should be wired by heavy duty cable to a separate 45A or more fuse in the fusebox or even a separate fuse box (as mine is) - check the fuse box to see if that's so.

If so, are you sure that the switch is for the 3 pin socket - the cooker socket I have has an unswitched 13A socket and the switch is for the 45A cooker cable (recently when I connected out new cooker the fridge connected to the 13 amp socket stayed on). Check by connecting a lamp to the 3 pin socket and turn off the switch.

The wire for the cooker should go through a push out in the pattress box that the socket is screwed to. As it doesn't, I would suggest that the criminally lazy installer for her previous cooker just fitted the cable to a 13A plug instead of taking off the socket fitting the cable through the box and into the socket.

If it is a proper cooker socket connected by heavy duty cable to at least a 45A fuse in the fuse box then it is a simple job for an electrician (or competent person) to connect the cooker cable through the pattress box to the socket.

However if it is just connected to a standard ring main then it is a bigger and more expensive job to run the necessary heavy duty cable to a spare fuse in the fuse box. For your mothers safety and if you are intending to sell the property in the future then I strongly suggest that you get it done.

Alan

[philipuk]

BDVF696XP. The problem is the old cooker was a single oven and the new one is a double oven. While the old one plugged into a three pin switched cook er socket the new one would need to be hardwired. Would it be possible for a suitably qualified person to convert the switched cooker socket to a hard wiring point without running a new wire from the fuse box? From what I hav e read on the internet it seems wiring a cable and plug onto the back of th e Beko and plugging it into the existing cooker socket would power the cook er but be unsafe due to the single/double polarity switching.

Was the old one even an electric oven or was the plug just for the timer/ig nition. Personally I would go for a different cooker. One that is just a ga s cooker. Simpler all round.

Philip

[newshound]

+1

[John Rumm]

Most single ovens these days come fitted with a 13A plug. They are typically rated at less than 2500W, and so are an acceptable loads on a normal socket.

A 45A fuse would be rather excessive for most domestic cookers. 32A MCB is more common.

Remember you can apply diversity to the cooker load when selecting a protective device.

So even a 10kW of combined double oven and hob (i.e. 43.5A of maximum load), would present a diverse load of only around 20A

It sounds like the existing install has a traditional style "cooker point" with an integral socket. So there is a resonable chance that it is feed from a dedicated circuit, and wired in a suitable cable (4 or

6mm^2 T&E).

The Beko BDVF696XP is a dual fuel appliance - so only uses electric for the oven - which eliminates the most significant part of the load (i.e. the hob) for an electric cooker. The maximum power would appear to be under 4kW, so less than 18A maximum load. (and less than 13A with diversity applied)

So assuming it can be established that the circuit is suitable, and the cable has adequate fault protection from its fuse/MCB then there is not much to worry about. Just replace the cooker point with a cooker isolation switch and feed a cooker flex outlet plate to enable the final connection to be made to the oven.

[chade]

Thank you everyone for your replies. Behind the cooker there are two socket s. Each on it's own fitting. One is on the same fitting as a large red swit ch with the word "cooker" moulded into it. The second socket, into which th e previous single oven cooker was plugged for years looks like any switched 13A socket. The big red switch switches off both.

It sounds like an electrician could convert the socket next to the large re d switch into a hardwiring cooker point.

[Brian Gaff]

Actually, I doubt it would really be likely to overheat,but the voltage drop would depend on how long the wire is and that micght upsetsome equipment. Personally, I'd tend to ward a special cooker connection of a more modern type with its own breaker etc. Brian

[Robin]

That sounds more and more as if you have (as John Rumm said) a cooker point. Does your fusebox/consumer unit have something labelled "cooker"? And separate from "kitchen sockets" or "downstairs ring" or the like?

[John Rumm]

ok, so you have a cooker point.

Looks a bit like:

or

Chances are that is wired on its own circuit back to the CU... Have a look and see if you can work out which circuit breaker / fuse its connected to.

All you need is to swap the socket front for something like:

Its basically just a junction plate to allow the wire into the fitting to be joined to a flex out to the oven.

[chade]

e:

eko BDVF696XP.

ckets. Each on it's own fitting. One is on the same fitting as a large red switch with the word "cooker" moulded into it. The second socket, into whic h the previous single oven cooker was plugged for years looks like any swit ched 13A socket. The big red switch switches off both.

e red switch into a hardwiring cooker point.

The two sockets are controlled by the same switch in the fuse box.

[chade]

Thanks.

[Robin]

Just to check, does that switch control anything else?

And what is the rating for that switch - eg 20A, 30A, 32A, 40A, 45A...?