How to tell if I have a socket that is suitable to be a cooker conneciton unit?

Hello there,

I have a relatively small kitchen in an old-build house. I am currently having it refurbished, and have a number of electric sockets in the kitchen. I've been told that, to connect an electric cooker, you need a cooker connection unit and that it isn't just a case of converting a normal plug socket - is this true? I currently have a gas-only cooker. Above it, I have an electric fan connection to the wall, with a switch box next to it and a power switch below it to turn the fan on/off. As this is above the cooker, I was wondering if I can get someone in the use the connection from that box to add a cooker connection unit near the floor so that my next cooker can be a gas hob w/ electric oven.

If this isn't possible, any tips on how I can check if any of the sockets in my kitchen are cooker connection unit friendly? If none are, does this mean I need to get a new connection wired from my mains all the way to my kitchen? My mains are quite far away from the kitchen, so it would be more suitable to bring a cable round the outside of the house...is this recommended at all?

Many thanks.

Most normal electric ovens simply plug into a normal socket,

A cooker connection is usually only needed for an electric hob.

Depends on the rating of the cooker most cookers plug into a 13 amp skt nowadays it's worth checking the load

welcome to the forum Quakington, your question can only be answered correctly if we have the information on the power required for the electric oven, most standard single ovens can be just plugged into a 13 amp socket.

The manufacturer of your intended oven will have details about the installation and power requirements, check these and let us know what they say and we can tell you how to connect it.

Hi all,

Thanks for such a speedy response. This is the cooker I am looking at:

BCG920SS Baumatic Gas Range Cooker Stainless In Steel

It's a Baumatic *BCG920SS

Freestanding gas range cooker in stainless steel

Sorry in advance that it's only a mobile link, I'm on my phone at the moment. The description says 'yes' to amp power supply. I'm a complete novice at this stuff, so not sure what that means.

I look forward to your response. Thanks.

You should read the reviews all 2 of them and both ppl said it was bad

by the looks of its its all gas and only needs electric for the grill, and ignitors possibly.

ElektekAir - thanks for the heads up, reviews I read on some other sites were ok.

Steptoe - does this mean I would just be able to use a normal sock for the cooker connection? I plan to get a range cooker with a gas hob but may have electric oven or grill. Will try to avoid this and get all gas though.

Thanks.

Same product found at comet and their specification says it can be plugged into a standard 13A socket so shouldn't be a problem

Here I believe is the manual for your unit. Connection details are on page 10. Your electrician will advise further I'm sure.

http://files.baumatic.com/usermanuals-uk/bcg920ss%20160112.pdf

There are a few ways people will "skin this cat". From your original post I'm guessing you are not maybe that au fait electrically i.e. a average householder? My own Bosch, all electric, single oven unit with similar current (13A) requirements is wired thus: A double pole switched connection unit, not fused and on the kitchen ring circuit,. This is ABOVE the worktop and fees a single, un-switched 13A socket BELOW the worktop. Then a heat resistant length of cable (from Wickes I think) on the cooker with a normal (good quality) plug top and a 13A fuse in (the plug). So only one fuse. There IS an argument against this that comes out of BS7671 aka "the regs" (the electricians bible). Basically there it suggests that

as a general rule of thumb with fully electric ovens.

Single oven plugs in and double oven needs hard wiring.

I have one of the range thingies (well the wife has actually!) with a 5 gas hob and 1+1/2 ovens and IIRC it would plug into a 13A outlet,

I actually had wired for a cooker point so simply hard wired it to the outlet and changed the MCB to a 16A.

---------- Post Auto-Merged at 22:25 ---------- Previous post was made at 22:24 ----------

fan assisted all electric oven by the way.

Can you use both grill and oven at the same time steps?

yep, can have the whole thing fired up at once, obviously you cant [due to design] use both grill and oven in the same compartment together, but can have both ovens on(only the main one is fan assisted), or both grills on, or any combination in between,

maybe I should stick a clamp on sometime......

Thanks for the responses again, everyone.

I am arranging for an electrician to come in over the next few days.

Steptoe - all of the cookers I'm looking at have gas hobs and maybe one electric oven cavity. I'm currently looking at this:

Rangemaster 86870 Professional Plus 90 Natural Gas FSD Gas Range Cooker Stainless In Steel

All gas except for the tall secondary cavity on the right, which is a fan-assisted one, I believe. Based on what you've said, am I right in thinking these can generally connect to a standard socket? Even if the socket needs to be converted to a cooker connection unit?

Thanks.

yep, that is 'only' 2.6kW so will plug into a normal socket fine,

in theory as it is over 2kW it should be on a dedicated circuit, in the real world it will be fine to plug in.

Just dont forget a socket is not suitable for emergency switching

Thanks. Just to be on the safe side, I've arranged for an electrician to visit on Saturday for a quote to fit a proper cooker connection (so I'm future proof if I ever switch to a full electric cooker).

Hello again.

I had an electrician round today that confirmed that the 2.6kw Rangemaster is okay to be plugged into a standard socket. However, my socket currently resides above where the new cooker would be (maybe not directly above, just a little to the left, but higher than the cooker). He advised against this because the heat from the cooker could burn the socket, is this correct? He suggested I move it to a wall facing the side of the cooker or keep it on the same wall but move it much lower. Is it alright to keep an electric socket behind a cooker, lower side? Should i worry about heat from the oven?

I'm a little worried about moving this too far from the cooker because that would mean having a long cable from the cooker to the plug. I'd like it to be accessible so I can easily take it off if I ever needed to.

Thanks.

Would that not look a bit bodgy having a flex coming out above the worktop. Generally the cooker connection is behind the cooker or in a cupboard next to the cooker.