Assuming that there is a dedicated circuit, does a 2.4kW oven need to be wired in? Or is it OK to have a socket on that circuit so that it can be plugged in?
The only reason I can think of is that putting a plug on it the oven's power supply cable might tempt someone to plug it into an ordinary ring instead of a dedicated circuit.
Daniele
And? as a <3Kw device it ought to be just fine in that mode.
How about using a 16A connector? You'd have the benefit of being able to unplug it (for cleaning) and it couldn't be plugged into a ring main socket.
I don't see any reason that a 2.4 kW oven (10 amps) can't be plugged into a normal socket, assuming that it is just that oven, not an oven with hot plates or grill.
nib
Thanks, makes sense.
Daniele
My built-in Lamona oven is rated at 2.75kW. The instructions say it should be wired via an "Oven Control Circuit", with a fuse rated at "15A min/20A max". In fact, it's connected via a 13A square pin socket behind it, which connects via a standard cooker circuit. The socket failed a while ago; maybe that's why. (It was replaced with a similar socket by a proper electrician.)
Yup... it is also a thermostatically controlled load - so will not be drawing 10A continuously.
Do you have a (3kW) electric kettle?
The difference is the time of running. Experience with finding plugs and sockets that can handle the 10 A or so of a backup EV charger for hours on end without getting worryingly warm shows that this can be an issue.
As someone has already pointed out an oven will take on average a lot less than its peak current so this shouldn't be a concern.
Years ago, my parents' house had an immersion heater wired through a 13A plug. That lasted a while before it charred and got replaced with the proper wired connection!
nib
Sadly not. Didnt the EU clobber them?
same thing happened with me mum's 'Hoovermatic' washing machine. It blew the plug and eventually the socket.
She gave it to me, and got a better one and had a new socket fitted
My son's oven came with a 13A plug on the lead. The lead was a nice piece of hefty cable as it is 2.5kW.
There are also plug-in mini cookers with hotplates, grill and oven that are designed for running from 13A, but they have interlocks so that you can't run everything together (eg small ring + oven, small ring + grill or small ring + large ring).
nib
I don't know why we don't standardise on a couple of 32A sockets (one to be used for a combined cooker or the two to be used for separate oven and hob), so that connection and disconnection becomes simple and it is easy to remove for cleaning.
Bog standard IEC-60309 sockets don't have shutter protection, which I believe means they shouldn't be used in domestic settings, and the sockets with interlock tend to be bloody huge ...
Tyoical overregulation - who needs shutters on a socket that is behind a cooker and only exposed when it is being changed or moved for cleaning.
I am sure that there will be many people with 16A, unshuttered sockets, that are far more avoailable to touch, in their garages, for welders, etc.
And how far away from the wall would a free standing cooker be if you used a 32A plug and socket behind it?
A cooker outlet plate is not a too difficult a challenge to wire up.
A quick check of the range of electric kettles from one retailer, and of different brands, shows a mix of 2.2kW and 3kW kettles with the latter being the most common wattage and often being described as quick/rapid boil.
A good many electric fan heaters with two or three power settings are
3kW and plug into a standard ring-main wall socket. Plenty available on Amazon
Ah, the Baby Belling, beloved of bedsitter landlords.
(The original model had a solid hotplate/grill underneath and an oven with a thermometer rather than a thermostat, both with high/medium/low switches. At least you could have everything on at once. I think from a
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