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I have a gas oven which has given up the ghost and I want to replace it with an electric pyrolitic oven.

Do I need a separate circuit for the new oven, or can I put it on the normal ring main.?

The new oven says it needs a "hard wired" connection. What's that?

WOPR
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    DON'T DO IT MAN! gas ovens are way better (in my opinion). more efficient, better more even heat, faster boil times. Stay with gas, or you'll probably regret it later. – Tester101 May 06 '11 at 12:14
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    Most cooks prefer electric ovens, gas ranges. – DA01 May 06 '11 at 13:21
  • Not to mention, you can use them when the power goes out. – Doresoom May 06 '11 at 13:22
  • The phrase "ring main" makes me think you're in the UK, correct? – Vebjorn Ljosa May 07 '11 at 21:17
  • I'm in Australian. 240V, 50HZ AC – WOPR May 11 '11 at 01:42
  • To expand on @DA01's comment, most residential gas ovens have less sensitive regulators than residential electric ovens; the on-and-off gas cycling can cause temperature swings of +/- 25°F. Also, if you are looking to get a convection oven, keep in mind that electric convection ovens usually have an element right behind the fan, whereas gas convection ovens usually have the burners at the bottom, away from the fan. I am not sure if that makes a huge difference, but I've heard that the fan element also accounts for more even cooking, which is especially important when baking. – ESultanik Jun 13 '11 at 15:31

1 Answers1

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You need a separate circuit for the oven as it draws a much greater current than the normal ring main.

This site explains the load a cooker draws.

A 240 V domestic cooker has the following connected loads:

top oven 1.5 kW
main oven 2.5 kW
grill 2.0kw
four hotplates 2.0 kW each

This results in a nearly 30A load which will clearly overload the regular 13A ring main.

A hard wired connection is where the connection is permanent and not through a normal plug and socket.

Community
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ChrisF
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    Usually though the cooker will only be able to run the oven OR grill/broiler at the same time - so often 20A. In europe (230V 13A) you can get stoves that do not need a separate power line BUT are set so that you can't use the oven and 2 large rings at the same time. – mgb May 06 '11 at 15:54