Discuss cooker switch above hob in the Electrical Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

Welcome to ElectriciansForums.net - The American Electrical Advice Forum
Head straight to the main forums to chat by click here:   American Electrical Advice Forum

Reaction score
18
I went to look at a job last night where the customer wanted advice about fitting a new hob.

She'd already ordered one from john lewis but when they arrived to fit it they refused as the cooker switch was directly above the hob (bottom of the switch 600m above). Said they couldn't because of "new regulations".

Obviously i would never fit a switch above a hob on a new install but as this is an existing install would it be acceptable to fit the hob anyway. Ideally the switch should be moved..but to do that I'd have to take off about 3 tiles (no replacements), a wall unit to (to access the cable run) and I'd have to extend x1 10mm t&e cable (supply) and x2 6mm t&e cables (loads)

I guess the other option is to do away with the switch join the cables and fit a blank but can't really say this is improving matters.

She's had the appliances refunded but wanted to know if I could fit the hob. gut feeling is no but not sure what others would do.

Cheers
 
In years gone by, it was the norm for the cooker switch to be above the cooker.

If I was doing an EICR, I would code it a C3, and yes, I would connect the hob but discuss the issue with the client first.

tin hat on.
 
I had the same issue with a well known company who fit kitchens,they redesigned the kitchen and fitted the cooker directly below the switch.previously it had been off to one side,they said that it wasn't a problem however I cited the reg about external detrimental influences as being a reason why they should not have done what they did.However the important thing in your situation is to remember that new regs are not retrospective,while there may be a reg now saying that you cannot locate something in a particular position this does not mean that something existing needs to be changed,however whilst I would agree that siting an isolator directly behind the hob is not ideal there may have been nothing preventing this in the regs at the time the install was originally done.
 
morning Phil pretty damned good here, enjoying my morning coffee before I head out into this beautiful day :)

How is Phil?
 
The issue here is the cooker switch maybe existing but the point of the cooker switch is for isolation in what could be an emergency like a fire, boiling over fat etc on the hob. Now any isolation point where access to it would require you to reach across the hazardous situe' you are trying to stop is obviously very dangerous and puts you at unnecessary danger, so any company fitting these hobs would have to make sure that in doing so the owner can safely isolate the hob in an emergency without having to reach across the danger.

The problem here is the owner should have been made aware of this at point of sale that additional works may be needed, if you buy say an electric shower that requires RCD protection as manufacturers recommendation and you are just replacing an old shower without rcd protection then you have to ensure the circuit is updated to meet the requirement, IMHO I believe this falls within the same kind of scenario.
 
I went to look at a job last night where the customer wanted advice about fitting a new hob.

She'd already ordered one from john lewis but when they arrived to fit it they refused as the cooker switch was directly above the hob (bottom of the switch 600m above). Said they couldn't because of "new regulations".

Obviously i would never fit a switch above a hob on a new install but as this is an existing install would it be acceptable to fit the hob anyway. Ideally the switch should be moved..but to do that I'd have to take off about 3 tiles (no replacements), a wall unit to (to access the cable run) and I'd have to extend x1 10mm t&e cable (supply) and x2 6mm t&e cables (loads)

I guess the other option is to do away with the switch join the cables and fit a blank but can't really say this is improving matters.

She's had the appliances refunded but wanted to know if I could fit the hob. gut feeling is no but not sure what others would do.

Cheers

It could be if you took a cable from the cooker outlet plate into a base unit cupboard, fitted a cooker isolator to it within easy reach of the opened cupboard door then fed the cooker from that .... maybe??

Don't crucify me ..... I'm only a poor plumber. :sad_smile:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
It could be if you took a cable from the cooker outlet plate into a base unit cupboard, fitted a cooker isolator to it within easy reach of the opened cupboard door then fed the cooker form that .... maybe??

Don't crucify me ..... I'm only a poor plumber. :sad_smile:

Good move Geordie, done it a couple of times. Another "get out of jail free card" is if the C/U is within 3m of the hob. Classes as local isolation!
 
c/u is in same house. if that's not local, what is?

8 times out of 10 the C/U is in the kitchen anyway, ok it may be 4.23 meters away but at the end of the day "can it be turned off in case of a chip pan fire" (do people still have chip pans these days?)

Anything within the kitchen that is easily accessible is ok with me, as above, its local enough to be safe.
 
13.97654 ft. is that more precise? at least you can visualise feet.
 
8 times out of 10 the C/U is in the kitchen anyway, ok it may be 4.23 meters away but at the end of the day "can it be turned off in case of a chip pan fire" (do people still have chip pans these days?)

Anything within the kitchen that is easily accessible is ok with me, as above, its local enough to be safe.

Yes!! .... You got a problem with that?? :angry_smile: .. :)
 

Reply to cooker switch above hob in the Electrical Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

OFFICIAL SPONSORS

Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Electrician Courses Green Electrical Goods PCB Way Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Pushfit Wire Connectors Electric Underfloor Heating Electrician Courses
These Official Forum Sponsors May Provide Discounts to Regular Forum Members - If you would like to sponsor us then CLICK HERE and post a thread with who you are, and we'll send you some stats etc

Electrical Forum

Welcome to the Electrical Forum at ElectriciansForums.net. The friendliest electrical forum online. General electrical questions and answers can be found in the electrical forum.
This website was designed, optimised and is hosted by Untold Media. Operating under the name Untold Media since 2001.
Back
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website. For the best site experience please disable your AdBlocker.

I've Disabled AdBlock