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Hi all,

This maybe a bit long but want to give as much information as I can. I am changing from a freestanding gas cooker to an induction hob. The oven is a single oven and came with normal 13a plug on the ring circuit, But the hob needs to be on a dedicated circuit - it has 220-240v 6400w. Had my electrics done about 4 years ago and the main fuse box is a MK T1607R with dedicated cooker outlet on a 32a fuse, rest of kitchen is on its own seperate ring from rest of house. My dedicated cooker outlet currently has a double 13 amp socket on because it wasnt needed for a cooker.

My question is 2 part: Can i just change the socket and use it once again as cooker outlet and can i buy a plug for the end of the hob wire instead off having it directly wired in? (dont really want to call electrician out to hard wire it when means hacking into the walls)

many thanks

There is no domestic plug that can carry the required power so the hob will have to be wired directly to the point where the original cooker outlet was connected. This should only require the removal of a plate and the required connection thereof - no 'hacking into walls'.

thank you.

You can get duel cooker connection units so oven and hob can be wired to same point, it is recommended connecting cookers, ovens and hobs with a rated power exceeding 2 kW on their own dedicated radial circuit in BS 7671 this is so "The load current in any part of the circuit should be unlikely to exceed for long periods the current-carrying capacity of the cable (Regulation 433.1.5 refers)." If the kitchen is near to the CU this can be a problem, if a good distance away it is unlikely a problem.

To be frank most of above copy and paste out of the BS 7671 but an oven does not normally take long to heat up, so in real terms the washer/drier or tumble drier are far more of a problem, and we do normally simply plug them in. But since you have the outlet may as well use it.