Please advise - kitchen circuit

[kopa]

Hi,

I am after a bit of advise in regards to kitchen circuit (see below). I am planning kitchen refurbishment and I would like find out correct locations of all electrical items in the kitchen (electrician not yet contracted and there is so many cowboys in London that I would prefer to know all the regulations myself before I start talking to anybody ).

Do you see anything wrong?

W/M & Dishwasher sockets in the cupboard next to the appliances. (I am considering DP switches but would like to avoid if possible)

Hood/Kitchen lights - sockets above cupboards (depending on MIs I may switch to FCU)

Thank you in advance

Michal

 

[Richard Burns]

Your oven hob circuit is overspecced especially if the oven is on a plug top (may be tight getting 10mm² cable in a socket). Also not ideal having the 2.5mm² cable protected by a 40A breaker.
I would keep the smoke alarms a separate RCBO or on the lighting circuit.
I would certainly have FCUs for the UC lights and hood.
You would probably find it useful to have more sockets in the kitchen.

It might be an idea to ask kitchen suppliers what design they would go for to get ideas.

 

[driverman]

I would tend to have ALL heavy loaded appliances on their own radial circuits. ie Cooker, Washing machine, Dish washer, Tumble dryer.
wash/ mach etc I would have a switch fused spur above the worktop which in turn switches a 13A skt sited directly behind the appliance (not in cupboards).

Ps what size is the oven?

 

[SJD]

I would tend to have ALL heavy loaded appliances on their own radial circuits. ie Cooker, Washing machine, Dish washer, Tumble dryer.
wash/ mach etc I would have a switch fused spur above the worktop which in turn switches a 13A skt sited directly behind the appliance (not in cupboards).

Ps what size is the oven?

Why the 13A sockets directly behind the appliances? If you need to check the fuse, you have to pull out the appliance; whereas if mounted in an adjacent cupboard on side towards back, it is easy to unplug & test.

 

[telectrix]

i'd not use a FCU for applince sockets as you trhen have 2 13A 1362's in series. better to fit a 20A D/P switch ( with or without neon to personal preference)

 

[dingledong]

Why don't you do it yourself ? ?

 

[telectrix]

Why don't you do it yourself ? ?

because the part pee gestapo will connect electrodes to his goolies then burn him at the stake for being a non-comformist heretic.

 

[dingledong]

But they won't know

 

[telectrix]

they never do. till a house burns down or a MP's relative gets hurt.

 

[dingledong]

Yes true !

 

[driverman]

i'd not use a FCU for applince sockets as you trhen have 2 13A 1362's in series. better to fit a 20A D/P switch ( with or without neon to personal preference)

Yes your right of course. I've done exactly that before. 20amp DP neon switch.

 

[kopa]

Thanks for replies,

Bit of background: the kitchen is in the "temporary" location (we just bought the house and want to extend in the future when we save some money, it may take couple of years ... so we are just doing it up anyway but on budget -IKEA etc.)

I modified the drawing - is the hob/oven now ok? - re: power of the oven ~3.2KW (still selecting) - I want to have the cooker unit installed in case I install induction hob etc.

Why the smoke detectors on the lighting circuit? Is it just so the tripped MCB is noticeable?

 

[Richard Burns]

Just to clarify, the cooker circuit overspecced was that the breaker and the cable are too large for a domestic arrangement, 32A and 6mm² are more usual.
The 2.5mm² cable to the gas hob ignition was too small as it is only being protected by the 40A breaker. What you have now done is put in a smaller cable for the cooker which is also only protected by the 40A breaker, whilst there are some considerations that would permit this arrangement it is not ideal, the cable size used throughout the circuit (if it is not fused down) should be suitable to be protected by the breaker. (in this case a 40A breaker and minimum 6mm² cable if not run in insulation).

The smoke alarms on the main RCD mean that if anything trips the RCD such as the cooker shorting to earth, this will switch off the smoke alarms as well.
As you say if they are on the lighting circuit then if the lights go out, you will notice and repair.

Since you are trying to get into a lot of design features for the circuits, it would be much easier to get a local electrician to look at the situation for you.

 

[jaypp]

Mr Burns, as usual has provided an informative reply and managed to recommend contacting an electrician without sounding offensive - how do you do that?!! I'm in agreement with him regarding breakers protecting cables even though, as he says, other factors can be considered

 

[kopa]

Ahhh yes. Got it. 6mm2 cable from 32A MCB through cooker switch/socket to two sockets or FCUs. It makes sense.

I will involve electrician - I have engineering background so I would like to understand it all beforehand

Thank you.

Michal

 

[telectrix]

from Richard's post:


The 2.5mm² cable to the gas hob ignition was too small as it is only being protected by the 40A breaker


as the oven and hob ignition are unlikely to be subject to overload and are fused at sockets/FCUs , can we not refer to 433.3.1. ?

 

[Richard Burns]

from Richard's post:


The 2.5mm² cable to the gas hob ignition was too small as it is only being protected by the 40A breaker


as the oven and hob ignition are unlikely to be subject to overload and are fused at sockets/FCUs , can we not refer to 433.3.1. ?

Yes, but not in the DIY forum as this is out of scope and a more technical approach.