How much power does an electric cooker use?

[TooNice]

Let's say you are only using 1 out of the 4 'plates' in the worst case scenario. For some reason, using our electric cooker would result in cutting the power in our flat. Landlord will most likely blame us for using too many electrical devices in our room, but the thing is, I can use the microwave and the kettle at the same time, and it wouldn't cut our power.

[scaryjim]

If it's a proper electric cooker it should be on its own circuit with a pull of 20A - 30A, and shouldn't result in the flat's power going out. If using your cooker is taking out all your power then something is wrong with the cooker *and* the way your flat is wired.

Unfortunately, the law is much less strict on the standard of electricals in rented properties than the standard of gas supply - I'm currently fighting with my landlord about the state of the electrics in my house, but I'm doing it in the knowledge that he can almost certainly turn round and say "too expensive, we're not doing it" and I'll have no legal comeback...

[TooNice]

Well, it doesn't cut all the power in the flat (lighting is still fine), but it cut itself and all plugged devices in the flat. I am getting quite worried about my external HDs getting shut off especially when they are writing.

[scaryjim]

What type of cooker is it? It sounds like it's wired into an ordinary 13A circuit, which is - erm - slightly worrying!

That said, the oven in my current house is on a normal 13A circuit too and that doesn't cause us any problems, so my guess would be there's a fault in the cooker.

[CaptainCrash]

Well, it doesn't cut all the power in the flat (lighting is still fine), but it cut itself and all plugged devices in the flat. I am getting quite worried about my external HDs getting shut off especially when they are writing.

That does suggest the cooker is plugged into the ring main, which is a big no-no - it should be on its own dedicated spur, with at least a 30A cable, a double-pole isolation switch and its own RCCD at the distribution unit.

Really, you need to get it sorted properly - at least the circuit breaker is doing its job for the time being, but to be honest I think scrambled data on your external HDD is not the worst thing that might happen...

[jim]

The guy who did a few jobs for us put our brand new oven on the upstairs light circuit... along with the upstairs lights. So we had a huge oven that couldn't get over 150 degrees C.

[TooNice]

Well, our landlord's idea of fixing an oven is to replace it with a microwave oven. Given that he ask us to never use more than two electrical appliances in our room at any one time (exclude lights, so for instances, we can use a TV and a DVD player) it wouldn't surprise me if he has intentionally put it on the same circuit as the sockets. Or maybe not. Looking at the circuit breaker, 'Kitchen' and 'Socket' have their own switch, but the cooker will somehow kill both.

*Confused*

I can't see the brand written on the cooker and since I only use it once per week if that I know little about them. Is there anything I should look for?

[Behemoth]

Well, our landlord's idea of fixing an oven is to replace it with a microwave oven. Given that he ask us to never use more than two electrical appliances in our room at any one time (exclude lights, so for instances, we can use a TV and a DVD player) it wouldn't surprise me if he has intentionally put it on the same circuit as the sockets. Or maybe not. Looking at the circuit breaker, 'Kitchen' and 'Socket' have their own switch, but the cooker will somehow kill both.

*Confused*

I can't see the brand written on the cooker and since I only use it once per week if that I know little about them. Is there anything I should look for?

I reckon he knows theres a problem with the electrics in there mate. If he's saying no more than 2 appliances plugged in and running in your rooms for him to be saying that there is something wrong and he's hiding it.

I can see this problem getting worse before it gets any better

[malfunction]

I hope you have at least one smoke alarm. As has been said an electric oven should be on its own circuit and if it's not (and is not using the correct gauge wiring for the current) it could cause a fire - in fact you should be happy that all it's doing is tripping the electrics out. If your landlord is having to do yearly fire safety checks (if you're in shared accommodation) then this type of thing may be covered under that. If you know a sparkie I'd be calling in a favour - in fact I'd be tempted to call one in anyway (having discussed your concerns and their fees in advance).

[Flash477]

Yep, as malfunction says you should call a sparkie, it shouldn't cost that much if you just want to find the cause of the problem. If it is a problem with the wiring, and the sparkie is any good, he should be able to let you know where you stand, and if you have any comeback against your landlord.

[GoNz0]

at least its hooked up to 13amp if its using 13amp wiring, worst case would be 13amp wiring on a 30/40amp circuit, that could easily start a fire !

tbh even if its on 13amp now its still a fire risk.


call the landlord before you burn to death

[peterb]

An elecric oven takes around 2.5 to 3KW (10 to 10Amps) so an oven on its own can be wired into a 13 amp plug on a ring main. The rings on an electric oven vary from 1.5KW (6Amps) to 3KW (12 Amps) depending on the size and type. The Grill is typically 1.5KW. So as has been posted elsewhere, an electric cooker (Oven, rings, grill) should be wired to a dedicated 30Amp feed directly from its own cct breaker in the main fuse box, and it will be designed so that the maximum load doesn't exceed that value. The full details for an individual appliance will be on the rating plate and in the installation instructions.

If the lights dim when a heavy lood is switched on, it indicates a possible deficiency in the main house wiring in the fusebox area.

It may be worth having your local supplier carry out a safety check on the wiring. (Which they may do for nothing). If they find a fault, they can serve a rectification notice on the landlord - but they could (if it is really bad) disconnect the supply, or individual circuits - which would inconvenience you - but not as much as dangerous wiring causing a fire. However, it will probably get significantly far up your Landlord's nose to make business relations (which don't sound good as it is) worse.