The cooker that was here when we moved in has finally gone pop, it was rubbish anyway and took about 50 mins to warm up. Time for a new one.

The old one was dual fuel, gas hob, electric oven and connected to the electrics via a standard 13amp socket. I’ve been told that a dual fuel cooker should connect to a ‘cooker point’ one with a big red switch next to it. The old one certainly wasn’t connected to one of these and there isn’t one in the kitchen. What gives? The new cooker I’m looking at requires 3KW connection which I thought was the limit of a standard 13amp socket.

Some ovens come with a 13amp plug as standard. However, these are usually ovens rather than cookers (ie hob and oven combined).

My guess is that the cooker was fitted with a plug by the previous owner as there wasn’t a cooker outlet in the kitchen and they didn’t want the expense of fitting one.

A cooker switch can carry 45 amps so is designed for an electric hob/oven some of which can pull more than 10kW. The cable is usually 6mm rather than the 2.5 or sometimes 4mm of your ring circuit.

Another reason for the cooker switch is isolation. If your chip pan goes up you need to be able to isolate the cooker quickly and easily without having to get behind it.

I assume the new cooker is dual fuel too from the small loading. If so, it could safely be run from a socket outlet but unlike a kettle or washing machine it is on for extended periods which could cause the fuse to go (they are thermal devices so longer = hotter) and puts a high load on your domestic socket circuit.

It will also likely mean that the socket for it is behind the cooker – see isolation above.

The best option is a new 6mm cable from the consumer unit to a cooker point.

3kW = 13amps which is the limit for a socket outlet or a Fused Connection Unit (a fused switch). If you don’t want the expense of running a new circuit then try it on the socket. 1.5mm cable at minimum to the cooker (carries 16 amps max) but 2.5mm is better. Heat resistant flex is better than twin and earth.

As long as the cable doesn’t act as a fuse, which it won’t with a 13amp fuse and the right size cable, it will be safe but I’d personally prefer to be able to isolate in an emergency.

Rich.

I’m not an Electrician but do have all the regs. A quick search for cooker and kitchen don’t reveal anything saying you must have a separate switch. Wiley’s Installets Guide does say “Kitchen appliances should preferably be supplied via dedicated radials or rings.”, but that’s all I found.

Our cooker is > 13A so is on a dedicated spur with a local isolation switch by the cooker. But for 13A you can just plug it into a ring main.

Good working practice would be to provide an isolator,regs or not,what would an inspector want to see? Does the OP have RCD protected ring mains?

with reference to the previous post an isolator can be a 13 amp switched socket
A 3kw oven can be safely run from a ring main, wired in 1.5mm 3 core flex connected to a 13amp plug with a 13 amp fuse in it check BS 7671 if you do not believe me sorry I do not have the regs to hand.
An appliance of greater loading than 3kw does require to be hardwired through an independent isolator on its own dedicated supply.
BTW I swapped my cooker connection point (6mm cable 40 amp supply)for a 13amp switched socket and plug my cooker in because it made my life easier. the cooker is protected by a 13a bs1362 fuse and the cable by a 40a type B cb

I understand that a plug/socket will take the load,my issue is where is the socket? Almost certainly behind the oven / under the worktop hence inaccesible in an emergency.As above I did not state it was a reg,I said Good working practice. What happens in a fault situation? Can you reach the socket to turn it off? Is it obvious to others where to isolate the cooker safely?Fuses alone will not protect you,they are there to protect the cable, why do you think I asked about RCD?

Thanks for the replies.

The cooker in question is this one:

Link

It’s only 3KW as previously mentioned, so doesn’t need a dedicated supply.

I was going to have it installed at the same time as having it delivered however when trying to order it the following question is asked:

I’ve got to answer no to this as despite having a dual fuel cooker already, the 13amp socket it’s using does not have local isolation.

Can the existing socket simply be swapped for one that does have isolation?