Cooker, Hob & Oven Circuit Installation in Kent

Why a cooker needs its own circuit

An electric cooker, hob, or range pulls far more current than a standard plug socket is built to deliver. Connect one to an ordinary socket or an undersized circuit and the cable overheats, the connection degrades, and eventually something fails, usually at the worst moment. That’s why cookers go on a dedicated circuit, sized for the appliance and run in cable rated for the load. We install and upgrade cooker circuits across Kent.

Whether you’re fitting your first electric oven, swapping from gas to electric, or replacing a range cooker, we make sure the circuit behind it is right rather than just connecting to whatever’s already there.

Cooker control units and outlets

A cooker is normally fed from a cooker control unit (the switch with the neon, often combined with a socket) or a dedicated cooker outlet plate near the appliance. The control unit lets you isolate the cooker easily and is positioned to be reachable but not directly over the hob.

We fit the control unit and outlet in a sensible, compliant position, and connect freestanding cookers via a proper outlet plate rather than the makeshift connections we sometimes find behind an old oven.

Separate oven and hob, or a range

Modern kitchens often split the cooking between a built-in oven and a separate hob. Depending on their combined rating, these can sometimes share one suitably sized cooker circuit, or they may need their own. A big range cooker can draw enough to need a dedicated circuit of its own and sometimes a supply upgrade.

We work out the right arrangement from the appliance ratings and your kitchen layout, so you don’t end up with a circuit that nuisance-trips every time the oven and hob run together.

Upgrading an old cooker circuit

Older homes often have a cooker circuit sized for the modest cookers of decades ago. Fit a powerful modern induction hob or range onto it and it’s no longer adequate. We check the existing circuit against the new appliance and, where it falls short, upgrade the cable, protective device, and control unit to suit.

If the existing circuit is genuinely fine, we’ll tell you that too, rather than selling you work you don’t need.

How we install a cooker circuit

Tell us the appliance rating (it’s on the plate or in the manual) and your kitchen layout. We confirm the circuit and the control-unit position, install or upgrade the circuit, and connect the appliance. Then we test it, certificate the work where it’s notifiable, and demonstrate it before we leave.

We’re happy to work alongside your kitchen fitter and handle just the electrical side.

Related work

For a new or upgraded fuse board to feed the kitchen, see consumer unit replacement. For worktop and appliance sockets see extra and replacement sockets, and for wider work see domestic electrical. To book, get in touch with the appliance details.