Howdy I was gifted a used eclectic oven as a stop gap for a kitchen refurb I'm doing. It used to be fitted to a dedicated circuit at the previous house but the location of the socket at this house is other end of the kitchen and to extend would be a lot more work than I intended. On reading on the oven the instructions for fitting, it has a section for "Fixed Connection" and "Fitting a plug" and it states the "Required protection fuse for the oven" is 13amp, which is a standard plug. Where the oven is to go there is 2 under counter sockets. So, as simple as it seems, can I just fit a plug?
Don't do it. You need a dedicated supply with the correct cabling to cope with the high sustained current.
13A cookers can be connected via a UK three-pin-plug, but only if the device has a power rating of under 3kW. Any more than this and you exceed the max rating for the 13A plug. You will also need suitable capacity on the circuit the socket is part of, it's possible to overload the socket ring main if you have other devices on it that are also high load like elec fires, tumble driers, microwaves etc. All 16A devices require a dedicated connection as the standard socket ring main in a domestic property is only rated to 13A. 16A connections are common place in European kitchens, a large number of ovens/cookers sold in the UK are made for the same European market. These devices require a fixed connection unit (FCU) on a dedicated connection with appropriate protection (RCD/Fuse).
I strongly suspect that if the manufacturer's fitting instructions say the oven can be connected using a 13 amp plug, then that is going to be safe. It's an oven, not a cooker with a grill, 4+ rings and two ovens.
I'm not an electrician and so my opinion has been NEVER to fiddle with the electrics in my house as it's just not worth the risk...
Manual says max output is 3kW, house has had new electrics fitted in passed 3-4 years so I'm comfortable that everything would be good. But as there's already a ring main for the cooker I would prefer to use that. At least I have the option to wire up to the available socket and work on the re-wiring without worrying about having no cooker etc
Check the power rating for the oven - if it's less than about 2.5kW and the manufacturer says that it can run on a 13a fuse then it should be fine to run on the ring main with a plug... However - I would check what else is on the same circuit. I did some basic calculations when I recently got a new oven as there were a lot of other devices on the same circuit. At peak load there was a chance that we could overload the circuit (check the peak current rating for the wire and for the fuse) so instead of using the 13a plug on the new oven I got an electrician to hard wire the oven in via a new dedicated feed from the fuse box. It was probably overkill - but when it comes to safety in the house you don't want to skimp.
Gladly, If I've understood the new wiring there is nothing on that ring at all other than a vacuum battery charger (for now) so I'm confident it'd be fine for a short time. I am going to go to a direct wired connection, it's a long weekend coming up so I can make the time to channel the wall. I am an over thinker and would be constantly worried when other things start getting plugged in.
