Cooker hood fuse/switching placement

[Nightmare1308]

Hi all,
Got a question on site we are all discussing on the location of the fuse for the cooker hood.
Two arguments;

1 Cooker switch fuse should be on top of the worktop and a flex outlet behind the hood (no fuse).
- if overcurrent device blows it's easy to replace and more functional for the house owner.

2 Fused spur behind the cooker hood and 20a DP grid switch controlling it for isolation.
- Because there isn't nothing against it (opinion on site)

I no there is arguments for and against both but I want to know if there is any regulations to back either up not "engineering judgement".

 

[Octopus]

I wouldn't place a fuse spur in the cooker hood chimney!

 

[malcolmsanford]

Nightmare

1st scenario what do you mean by cooker switch fuse? If the cooker is over 2kw it is recommended it be on a dedicated circuit. Are you spuring the hood off the cooker circuit?

 

[Leesparkykent]

If there is a cupboard next to the cooker hood you could put a 1g socket or fused spur in the cupboard.

 

[Andy78]

If there is a bridging unit or board with pelmet above the extract chimney, an outlet of some type can go there.
If it has a plug top then an unswitched socket behind the chimney and a DP switch above counter.
If no plug top, an FCU above counter and a flex outlet plate behind chimney.

 

[Darkwood]

Switch fused spur where-ever is convenient, out with 3 core flex (hidden in wall etc or out of eyesight) - comes out inside the flue casing into an inline flex socket and stick the inline plug on the extract - easy for maintenance, local and remote isolation options and is how I normally do them.

 

[Dave OCD]

Only last Monday I had to investigate why a hood had packed in, along with other jobs in the same house. Suspected a bulb [or lamp if you like:smilewinkgrin:] had blown and taken out the fuse. The problem was finding the connection, not a chimney type hood but more of a bridging unit type with vertical wooden door that opens from the bottom when the unit is being used. In the end I had to take the whole thing down and there right behind it was a single socket with plug and 3 amp fuse. F#####g kitchen fitter I expect. :uhoh2:
Ended up moving the socket to above the adjacent wall cupboard, horrible greasy hood it was.:smiley2:

 

[joehat]

Sfcu by above kitchen work tops near by or with other switches for aesthetics , and flex outlet behind cooker, seem to me the best solution if a fuse blows Ect, think what's the purpose of the fuse and what's the purpose of the dp switch when you can used the sfcu as the dp switch and fuse both in a simple location, after all you want to know if it's just a fuse or the whole appliance, and don't want to spend ages just to find it's a fuse behind the ecstasy or blown with a £45 sparky bill for a £0,30 fuse

 

[Nightmare1308]

Sfcu by above kitchen work tops near by or with other switches for aesthetics , and flex outlet behind cooker, seem to me the best solution if a fuse blows Ect, think what's the purpose of the fuse and what's the purpose of the dp switch when you can used the sfcu as the dp switch and fuse both in a simple location, after all you want to know if it's just a fuse or the whole appliance, and don't want to spend ages just to find it's a fuse behind the ecstasy or blown with a £45 sparky bill for a £0,30 fuse

Totally agree.
Is there any regs backing this up that we know of?
And I was referring to a cooker hood not a cooker sorry for missing communication if any.
It was position of the fuse what was the biggest question as I personally don't like fuses behind the hood.
Thanks

 

[Octopus]

Totally agree.
Is there any regs backing this up that we know of?
And I was referring to a cooker hood not a cooker sorry for missing communication if any.
It was position of the fuse what was the biggest question as I personally don't like fuses behind the hood.
Thanks

I think the reg you are looking for is elusive, however if its in the hood its not accessible.

I wish the idiots that write the regs would note these stupid apparent grey areas they create and make them black or white.

"accessible" means (to me) gaining direct access to the switch or fuse without use of a tool!

 

[Darkwood]

Must agree here, when you have to take the covers off to gain access to the isolation point be it a plug or fused spur then it kind of defeats the object of ... the idea here is these units should be isolated for maintenance and cleaning possible by the user, so think the reg's does cover this through accessibility and local isolation.

 

[YoungBart]

The other day I snagged a Plug top controlling the cooker hood direct behind the 'chimney' of one in a defects report, Don't like the idea of a fuse going then someone needing to dismantle the whole unit just to replace it. I much prefer the SFCU in an accessible location then A flex outlet behind the hood.