appliances
Electric cooker and oven connection
Connecting a freestanding cooker to an existing outlet costs £80 to £200. The job changes entirely if there is no cooker circuit, because a cooker is not a plug-in appliance: it wants its own circuit back to the board, and putting one in has to be certified and, in England and Wales, notified.
What this covers
What it costs. A like for like connection to an existing outlet is £80 to £200. Full cost breakdown.
What the job covers
- Connecting a freestanding cooker to an existing outlet
- Fitting a cooker switch and outlet plate
- Splitting a supply for a separate oven and hob
- Upgrading cable where the new appliance draws more
- Testing and certifying the new connection
What is involved
The everyday version is short. The existing cooker switch and outlet plate stay, the old appliance is disconnected, the new one is terminated into the outlet with the cable clamped properly, and the connection is tested. Twenty minutes of work and a certificate. Most of the variation is whether the new appliance's cable reaches the outlet, because outlet plates are fitted low and to one side and manufacturers fit short tails.
Splitting a supply for a separate oven and hob is the common upgrade and it is where people get caught. Two appliances on one cooker circuit is usually fine, because diversity allows for the fact that nothing runs every ring and the oven flat out at once, but it is a calculation rather than an assumption. An induction hob draws considerably more than the ceramic one it replaced, and a 7kW hob plus a 3kW oven on a 32 amp circuit is a calculation worth having done rather than guessed.
A gas hob with an electric oven needs both trades and they are not interchangeable: the gas connection is Gas Safe work and the oven is not. Where a kitchen is being refitted, the moment to move the cooker point is while the units are out, and the cost of doing it then against doing it after the worktop is in is roughly four to one.
Choosing someone for the job
Measure the appliance's cable length and the height of the existing outlet before booking, because that one fact decides whether this is a twenty minute job. Ask whether a separate oven and hob will share the circuit and whether the load has been calculated. If the kitchen is being refitted, get the point moved while the units are out.
Common questions
Can I plug my cooker into a normal socket?
A small oven rated under about 3kW often comes with a plug and can. A freestanding cooker or any hob cannot: the load is far beyond what a socket circuit is designed for, and it needs its own circuit and its own switch.
Can an oven and a hob share one circuit?
Usually yes, under a diversity calculation that allows for the fact that both are never flat out together. Induction hobs have raised the numbers enough that it is worth having the calculation done rather than assumed.