UK Hi everyone, new to the Forum, no electrical knowledge

[Murphynico]

Hello everyone, I'm a new homeowner member and would be really grateful for some advice as I know virtually nothing about electrics. My question/worry involves two single ovens I've just had fitted that the electrician has plugged into a double socket. There is also an isolation switch fitted in the cupboard. I have read that a double socket is good for 20 amps, these two ovens are 2.85kw each and are fitted with 13 amp plugs. Doesn't this add up to 26 amps being used if both ovens are on at the same time? Isn't that a potential fire hazard? Previously in the same place was a slot in double oven cooker wired in with a thick cable. I have also had an induction hob fitted and that has been wired in. I have mentioned my worries to the electrician who tried to explain things to me (went over my head) and ultimately said a double socket is fine. But I'm still unsure and it's niggling me.

I've attached a photo. Any help would be appreciated. Thankyou

 

[ipf]

The cooker switch is big enough to do the job. Seems a bit of a weird way to wire out to the unit's though.
The black round cable could be the hob....supply if electric, ignition if gas.

 

[Murphynico]

that cooker isolator is more than adequate for your ovens and hob.jist want a spark with a brain to fit it out correctly.

That's one less thing to worry about then Thankyou

 

[Murphynico]

The cooker switch is big enough to do the job. Seems a bit of a weird way to wire out to the unit's though.
The black round cable could be the hob....supply if electric, ignition if gas.

Does the rest of it look safe though? If I've got the ovens on and something goes wrong I might not be in the kitchen to flick the cooker switch off

 

[Murphynico]

If the ovens are designed for 13A sockets, and you have a proper cooker feed from your CU (consumer unit = fuse box) and isolator switch, then really the only things wrong are:

• Having a double socket (around 20A rating) instead of two singles (13A+13A)
• Not having the lot supported by some sort of wooden frame or similar so the "fixed" wiring is really fixed and not flexed any time an oven comes out for service, etc.

So not really a big deal to sort it out acceptably well.

 

[Murphynico]

Ah great, thankyou very much for that! I'll ask him to change the double socket to 2 singles and to mount the rest so they're not hanging mid air ?

 

[Baddegg]

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[telectrix]

Ah great, thankyou very much for that! I'll ask him to change the double socket to 2 singles and to mount the rest so they're not hanging mid air ?

and make sure he dumps that round JBox and fits the single sockets on surface pattresses, not metal flush back boxes.

 

[Murphynico]

and make sure he dumps that round JBox and fits the single sockets on surface pattresses, not metal flush back boxes.

Thankyou, will do. Will try and speak to him today. I'll post the outcome.... ?

 

[Murphynico]

Firstly, thank you all for your help and advice.
I've just phoned the electrician. He said it makes no difference whether the ovens are plugged into a double socket or two single sockets as it's wired off the 32A ring main. He said the wiring into the junction box is going nowhere, it's very secure. He said he will screw everything onto the wall and not leave it dangling. I forgot to mention the metal back on the double socket and any IP, I'll throw them into the conversation when I see him next week, though I'm sure he'll have an answer (hopefully valid). I will also ask for a minor works certificate on completion.
Do his explanations sound reasonable to you? Thank you

 

[DPG]

Firstly, thank you all for your help and advice.
I've just phoned the electrician. He said it makes no difference whether the ovens are plugged into a double socket or two single sockets as it's wired off the 32A ring main. He said the wiring into the junction box is going nowhere, it's very secure. He said he will screw everything onto the wall and not leave it dangling. I forgot to mention the metal back on the double socket and any IP, I'll throw them into the conversation when I see him next week, though I'm sure he'll have an answer (hopefully valid). I will also ask for a minor works certificate on completion.
Do his explanations sound reasonable to you? Thank you

That junction box is in no way secure. He knows this because he is admitting now it should be fastened down. Make sure he clips the cables as well.

For the double/single socket issue, see the replies you have already had.

 

[Intoelectrics]

Firstly, thank you all for your help and advice.
I've just phoned the electrician. He said it makes no difference whether the ovens are plugged into a double socket or two single sockets as it's wired off the 32A ring main. He said the wiring into the junction box is going nowhere, it's very secure. He said he will screw everything onto the wall and not leave it dangling. I forgot to mention the metal back on the double socket and any IP, I'll throw them into the conversation when I see him next week, though I'm sure he'll have an answer (hopefully valid). I will also ask for a minor works certificate on completion.
Do his explanations sound reasonable to you? Thank you

(My Bold) the concern is with the rating of the actual socket, as already been pointed out ^^ a double socket is only rated for 20A continuous use. This means the actual socket accessory rating not the rating of the circuit feeding it. This should have been considered as part of the electrical design for this job. Its not that it posses an immediate safety issue, since the ovens are not likely to have a continuous demand at full rating, its that the socket will most likely deteriorate far quicker and create a possible (avoidable) future fault.

I have seen situations where electric heaters of similar rating have been left on for long periods of time and created visible heat damage to the plug and socket outlet.

 

[James]

it is recommended that high power appliances like that are not fed from a general purpose ring.

 

[Mike Johnson]

Should not the two single sockets he is going to put in to replace the double be separately fed from the isolator switch and not ganged together from one cable?

 

[brianmoooore]

Both (single) sockets can be fed from one cable, as long as that cable is of adequate size, and we still don't know if it's 2.5 or 4.0.

 

[brianmoooore]

it is recommended that high power appliances like that are not fed from a general purpose ring.

Since the sockets are fed from a cooker switch, I assume this is incorrect, and the circuit is a 32A radial. If not, then it's certainly not acceptable.