New kitchen install

[chooks]

For crying out loud!!

I think I'll settle for a camp fire

Ok Ban-All-Sheds, advice taken.

Right, for an extra £40 I'll get the hob changed out for a decent unit, I will also get a hold of the electrician who comes into my work and go through this with him.

Thanks

 

[flameport]

The kitchen and appliances are all from B & Q because they have a sale on!

Fine, although for a complete new kitchen I'd rather spend a bit more and get some decent quality matching appliances.

So if the 32A circuit is run into the kitchen from the RCD side of CU, can both oven and hob be wired into the same outlet from a combined socket CCU

You don't want a cooker unit with a socket, just get a switch. Both oven and hob can probably be connected to it, unless you have a particularly powerful double oven. (It's the same equivalent as a freestanding electric cooker).

The microwave and drawer can plug into normal sockets (on a ring or radial) - no different than buying freestanding appliances and plugging them in.

Just one more thing if I was to change the microwave from a 13A to a 16A appliance how would that stir things up?

If the manufacturers are to be believed, a '16A' microwave would require a separate 16A circuit. In reality, most of these '16A' appliances use well under 13A and can be plugged in. The reference to 16A is because most of these appliances are sold throughout Europe where 13A sockets do not exist and 16A radial circuits are common.
This wouldn't be a problem if manufacturers stated what the actual wattage of their appliances is, however most seem to have invented a whole new set of descriptions and the information they provide is useless.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

See if you can get Candy to explain what they mean by the "Installed Electric Power" being 3kW when the sum of the 4 zones is 6.8 - 7.4kW.

OOI, I did that - I emailed Candy, and they replied.

If they mean they cap the total consumption at 3kW

That's exactly what they mean.

then what you'll be getting is a dreadfully compromised appliance

In order to sell people a product which can be connected in a way which no proper product could support they have made a product which is dreadfully compromised.

The Candy hob was chosen because it says it uses half the energy of a standard induction hob.

Ye cannae change the laws of physics - a given amount of energy has to be put into food to cook it, into water to boil it etc - if you only put in half the amount then the food won't be cooked, the water won't be boiling etc.

If you were to put 4 large pans of cold water onto the hob, and turn it on, I'd not be surprised if none of them ever came to the boil.

 

[xr4x4]

See if you can get Candy to explain what they mean by the "Installed Electric Power" being 3kW when the sum of the 4 zones is 6.8 - 7.4kW.

OOI, I did that - I emailed Candy, and they replied.

If they mean they cap the total consumption at 3kW

That's exactly what they mean.

then what you'll be getting is a dreadfully compromised appliance

In order to sell people a product which can be connected in a way which no proper product could support they have made a product which is dreadfully compromised.

The Candy hob was chosen because it says it uses half the energy of a standard induction hob.

Ye cannae change the laws of physics - a given amount of energy has to be put into food to cook it, into water to boil it etc - if you only put in half the amount then the food won't be cooked, the water won't be boiling etc.

If you were to put 4 large pans of cold water onto the hob, and turn it on, I'd not be surprised if none of them ever came to the boil.

lol.. very intresting bit of info.

 

[1john]

Are you serious?? They actually make a hob that can be capped at 3kW?? The mechanics of how it works would be interesting, I suppose they let each element get to temp individually and then cycle power between each element to maintain temperature.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Are you serious?? They actually make a hob that can be capped at 3kW??

Yup - just so that they can sell a product that doesn't need an electrician to install it. Just plug it in and away you go. I suggest going away to a hotel while you wait for your food to cook.

The mechanics of how it works would be interesting,

Do you mean "works" as in "works as a cooking appliance" or as in "works as a load of no more than 3kW"?

 

[Stoday]

Don't be so quick to knock something without having tried it. The consensus in this thread is that (4-ring) hobs are typically 7+kW, therefore a hob limited to 3kW total must have an unacceptably poor performance.

First, induction hobs are getting on for double the thermal efficiency of radiant hobs and quadruple that of gas. If you have both gas and induction (I do), this is easy to demonstrate.

Secondly, it's (presumably) using synchronised diversity to reduce the overall power. The fact is, you very rarely use all four rings on a hob to boil water; most of the time the hob is used for simmering. So the issue is: Is 3kW enough to keep three pans simmering and allow enough for the other to boil water in a reasonable time?

I think my induction hob controls are linear, so the increments from 1 to 9 are all equal. Setting the control to 3 allows for simmering, which implies 33% of full power. From this I calculate that three rings of a 7kW hob would require 1.73kW to maintain a simmer. That leaves 1.27kW for the remaining ring, which allows it to run at 72% of its full power.

You would only very occasionally use the hob using all four rings, so I think you would hardly ever notice the compromise limiting the demand to 3kW.

 

[xr4x4]

bearing in mind an induction hob transfers the heat directly and immediately to the pan and supposed to be very efficient.

 

[flameport]

supposed to be very efficient.

If that was true, induction hobs would be of significantly lower power than other types.

However when considering 4 ring hobs:
- most solid plate electric types are about 7kW in total
- most ceramic / halogen electric types are about 7kW in total
- most gas types are about 7kW in total
- most induction types are about 7kW in total.

Therefore either electric and induction hobs are far more powerful than they need to be, or more likely, the actual efficiency differences between gas/electric/induction are small.

One thing is certain. A 4 ring hob of any type limited to 3kW will be useless.

 

[chooks]

After great debate from all sides, I have changed the Candy induction hob for a Hotpoint induction hob instead.

I have one question.

Would it be possible to run a vertical spur within the wall cavity from the cooker outlet, to a fcu up on the wall to power an extraction hood? If it can be done, what would be the correct way to wire this in?

I only ask because the nearest power socket is approx 2 feet to the left and this would have the power cord running across the wall.

 

[Steve]

BUY A GAS HOB! You will regret changing to electric.

I have a gas hob. It is quick and amazingly easy to control. I would never buy an electric hob of any variety - my mum has one and I am always amazed by how she copes with it. And I can use a gas hob with a pacemaker fitted (If i had one). An induction hob is essentially 4 huge electromagnets which can play havoc with the mains supply and any sensitive equipment you might have. And I can cook in any pans I want too - should I wish to use copper or stainless pots.

You're mad.

And a 3kw 4 ring hob? Thats utter idiocy.

 

[mikeyd]

Would it be possible to run a vertical spur within the wall cavity from the cooker outlet, to a fcu up on the wall to power an extraction hood? If it can be done, what would be the correct way to wire this in?

If by cavity you mean it's an external 2 skin cavity wall then no, you can't run cables in the cavity at all. If you are asking because, (for example) your walls are tiled and you don't want to re-decorate then another option is putting the extractor on the lighting circuit. It will mean taking upstairs floorboard up and chasing down the wall to the extractor so might not be practical.

I have an induction hob. It is quick and amazingly easy to control. Just as good to cook on as a gas hob. It's easy to clean and the whole of the bottom of the pan heats up evenly. However given the cost of the thing and it's life expectancy (it has more electronics in it than my computer), my preference, if we had access to mains gas would have been a gas hob.

 

[chooks]

No, it won't be possible to wire it into the lighting circuit due to my loft conversion a few years ago.

The cavity wall in question is made up of lathe and plaster, as is the rest of the house, and has a clearance of approx 2 1/2 inches from the opposite side.

Would this make any difference to my question?

 

[1john]

Are you serious?? They actually make a hob that can be capped at 3kW??

Yup - just so that they can sell a product that doesn't need an electrician to install it. Just plug it in and away you go. I suggest going away to a hotel while you wait for your food to cook.

The mechanics of how it works would be interesting,

Do you mean "works" as in "works as a cooking appliance" or as in "works as a load of no more than 3kW"?

How it function, as in how it utilities the 3kW