Electric socket too close to the 'hot zone'?

[JohnW2]

I'm not sure about that. Water boils at 100⁰C. The pan must be at or above 100⁰C to keep the water boiling.

Yes, if (as is usually the case) the pan contains water-based things, then the contents will be at 100°C or so (and cannot be much hotter than that), but the outside of the pan will usually be much cooler. It so happens that I've just boiled a kettle on a hob. Whilst it was boiling, I was just about able to touch the outside for 2-3 seconds, suggesting a temp appreciably below 100°C.

Also, frying pans get a lot hotter than 100⁰C, surely.

Indeed, as I said, it's different if the pan contains something with a boiling point much higher than that of water.

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnW2]

I suspect it is not so much heating of cables, so much as reaching over a hot stove to isolate in an emergency, which is the cause of concern.

In general, I totally agree. As I often say to people who insist on the need for 'local isolator' (they usually really mean 'emergency switch') for a cooking appliance, it's no good if it is 'too local' (probably within 600mm, maybe more, of the appliance, since one then would have to lean over an appliance out of which flames were coming in order to operate the switch!

However, in this cases, IF that cable is for the hob's igniters, then I don't think there is an appreciable risk that an (electrical) 'emergency' would arise.

To put the above into perspective, there are countless cookers/hobs out there whose 'emergency switches' (if they have them) are directly behind the appliance!

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnD]

Is not 'under the counter' (i.e. in very close proximity to the oven) a fairly 'hot place'?

Kind Regards, John

no

above the flames of a gas hob is hot

But your hand is not usually burned if you stir the pan with your porage in or turn the sausages

hanging out of the wall behind a cooker and below hob level is not very hot

ovens are enclosed and insulated to stop the heat getting out

many years ago, gas ovens used to have a vent at the back, and smoky or greasy fumes used to leave marks on the wall that you saw when removing the cooker

for at least 30 years, it has been usual for ovens to have a vent at the front, where steam can escape, and hot air, though not much comes out.

Modern cookers/ovens often have a cooling fan between the insulated oven and the outer skin, blowing air out of a vent at the front into the kitchen, to keep the casing cooler.

I don't know about the OP's cooker, but mine has the wiring connection block low down at the back.

 

[johnny2007]

Yes, if (as is usually the case) the pan contains water-based things, then the contents will be at 100°C or so (and cannot be much hotter than that), but the outside of the pan will usually be much cooler.

Kind Regards, John

Sorry to differ, but accordingly to physics, a cooler mass (a pan) cannot transfer energy (heat) to a warmer mass (water).
The pan must be at or above 100⁰C for water to boil.

 

[JohnD]

The pan must be at or above 100⁰C for water to boil.

the heat enters the pan through the thick base, which is in contact with the flames or electrical heater or in the induction field, and the heat is transferred from the base to the contents .

the sides of the pan are not supposed to be heated

 

[JohnW2]

Sorry to differ, but accordingly to physics, a cooler mass (a pan) cannot transfer energy (heat) to a warmer mass (water). The pan must be at or above 100⁰C for water to boil.

As has been said, the transfer of heat is through the base of the pan. It's the touchable sides of the pan that will usually be appreciably below the temp of its contents.

Kind Regards, John

 

[crystal ball]

I suspect it is not so much heating of cables, so much as reaching over a hot stove to isolate in an emergency, which is the cause of concern.

Surely you would turn it off on the front

 

[JohnW2]

Surely you would turn it off on the front

That would certainly be a safer option! However, depending of the nature/location of the fault/problem, that might not cure it.

Indeed, if the cooker were 'in flames', then even successfully switching off the appliance itself would not prevent it's flex being at risk from the flames.

Kind Regards, John

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Surely you would turn it off on the front

Normally you would, but in an emergency, possibly the front controls might not work and a quicker, single action way is to turn everything off at one switch - which needs to be really accessible - without reaching over a hob/cooker.

 

[JohnW2]

Normally you would, but in an emergency, possibly the front controls might not work and a quicker, single action way is to turn everything off at one switch - which needs to be really accessible - without reaching over a hob/cooker.

Indeed - but, in factice, a very high proportion of such switches I've seen have been too close to the hob/cooker to be useful/usable if the appliance were 'in flames' (or 'live').

Kind Regards, John

 

[crystal ball]

Normally you would, but in an emergency, possibly the front controls might not work and a quicker, single action way is to turn everything off at one switch - which needs to be really accessible - without reaching over a hob/cooker.

Yes but its a gas cooker

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Yes but its a gas cooker

Yes, but it is wired for an electric cooker.

 

[Taylortwocities]

In this case (a gas cooker) Turing off the power supply in an emergency would be pointless.
I’d be wanting to isolate the gas supply, and that gas tap will be usually
- usefully- located behind the blazing inferno.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

In this case (a gas cooker) Turing off the power supply in an emergency would be pointless.
I’d be wanting to isolate the gas supply, and that gas tap will be usually
- usefully- located behind the blazing inferno.

No, the individual gas taps are located at the front - if it were a blazing inferno I would be out and isolating the gas at the meter, picking the key up on the way out.

 

[crystal ball]

No, the individual gas taps are located at the front - if it were a blazing inferno I would be out and isolating the gas at the meter, picking the key up on the way out.

So why kill the power?