6mm or 10mm cable for cooker?

S

Sam p

New Member
Hi
We're just putting a new ceiling in our kitchen and thought we'd put in a new cable for an electric cooker before we seal it all up. We don't have the electric cooker yet so want to be sure we're putting in a suitable cable for whatever we eventually buy. We'll be getting an electrician to fit it in properly for us but wanted to put the cable in position now. Can anyone advise would 6mm cable cover most cookers or should we go for 10mm to be sure? The cable will be approximately 12-15 metres long and mostly running between ceiling and floorboards. Thanks
Sam p
 
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Sam p said:
Hi
We're just putting a new ceiling in our kitchen and thought we'd put in a new cable for an electric cooker before we seal it all up. We don't have the electric cooker yet so want to be sure we're putting in a suitable cable for whatever we eventually buy. We'll be getting an electrician to fit it in properly for us but wanted to put the cable in position now. Can anyone advise would 6mm cable cover most cookers or should we go for 10mm to be sure? The cable will be approximately 12-15 metres long and mostly running between ceiling and floorboards. Thanks
Sam p
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If your new cooker is going to be less than 15 KW then 6mm will be big enough
 
Waste of money. No domestic induction cookers require 10mm cable. Domestic cookers are usually on a 32a MCB. In that case 4mm cable will do.
 
CosD said:
If budget allows, fit a 10mm cable, some induction hobs require 10mm.

This way you are covered for anything.
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Thanks for the advice, we decided to go with 10 mm wire. We might have gone a bit overboard but we wouldn't want to have to change it again later as it'll be really tricky to get to so thought this would cover all options. Thanks again
Thanks
 
Nomenklatura said:
Really?

Got any examples? What rated power do these hobs quote?
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Hi
Yes definitely. Without me having to look for the model of my Neff (100cm) induction hob, I needed to run a 10mm cable for it to work at full capacity.
The hob can run on 6mm and even 2.5mm cable, but you need to change some jump connections on the unit itself depending on the power source; But it will not work at full capacity which defeats the object somewhat.
 
Sam p said:
Thanks for the advice, we decided to go with 10 mm wire. We might have gone a bit overboard but we wouldn't want to have to change it again later as it'll be really tricky to get to so thought this would cover all options. Thanks again
Thanks
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Totally agree, chances are it's overkill, but for the sake of £30, you know you are covered for every eventuality.
 
Sam p said:
Thanks for the advice, we decided to go with 10 mm wire. We might have gone a bit overboard but we wouldn't want to have to change it again later as it'll be really tricky to get to so thought this would cover all options. Thanks again
Thanks
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Waste of time, money, and the planets valuable resources of copper. You will never need 10mm for a cooker circuit.
 
You may be right but if you're concerned about the earth's resources you'll be glad to hear we're putting in an electric cooker so we can stop using gas. I also bought the wire from a small local diy shop and walked there. Not a waste of time.
 
Banallsheds said:
Waste of time, money, and the planets valuable resources of copper. You will never need 10mm for a cooker circuit.
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I don't want to argue and I'm not an electrician either; But I also don't want the OP to make a mistake if I have given wrong recommendation.

My hob is rated at 11.1kw which translates to 50a, 6mm cable is rated at 45a......My numbers maybe wrong and if they are I'm sure someone will tell me.
A 10mm cable is 61a

In practice a 6mm cable would probably work, but in my head and in my house, I opted for a 10mm cable.

I can find other ways to save the planet to make up for the 4mm extra copper I used :)
 
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Sam p said:
You may be right but if you're concerned about the earth's resources you'll be glad to hear we're putting in an electric cooker so we can stop using gas.
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How is the electricity made?

If the cooker has an induction hob, what materials does it contain? What are the environmental aspects of their mining, extraction, refining, transportation and component manufacturing?

And what's its expected life? The whole-life impact of a simpler, possibly superficially less efficient, device which lasts 50 years will almost certainly be less than that of 5-10 more "efficient" devices which have to be discarded when some non-repairable/replaceable bit breaks.

OK - these questions are pretty much rhetorical. I don't know the answers, and I'm not asking you to go and find them. I'm making the point that things are never as simple as they might appear, and factors such as product lifecycles and embedded resource consumption are also important.
 
CosD said:
Apologies, but I don't know how to translate what you have posted into KW=Amps


using an online calculator, 11.1kw at 230v translates to 48.26 amps
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Cooking appliances do not run flat out all of the time. Once an oven gets to temperature it cycles the elements on and off intermittently to maintain the temperature. If it didn't it would be more like a kiln.

If you use a hob with manual control (traditional gas or plain electric one, for example), what happens if you don't turn it down once the pan is at the right temperature? Things will burn, boil dry, boil over, catch fire even.

So because an "11.1kW" hob or a "3kW" oven doesn't consume that all the time, a calculation of an assumed load is done.

The first 10 A of the rated current plus 30 % of the remainder of the rated current (plus 5 A if a socket-outlet is incorporated in the control unit)

So your "48A" load becomes 10A + 0.3x38A.
 
CosD said:
If budget allows, fit a 10mm cable, some induction hobs require 10mm.

This way you are covered for anything.
Click to expand...

Nomenklatura said:
Really?

Got any examples? What rated power do these hobs quote?
Click to expand...


I am looking at a new cooker for my self - I know the brand and looking at option for gas, induction or mixed. One of the induction hobs they have is rated at 11.1kW And that is with power limiting - using boost on all would take power up to 15.8kW. Add in the ovens with around 5-6kw.

Allowing for diversity, it will require 10mm cable and knowing how we cook, there is no way I would look at less.
 
Banallsheds said:
Waste of time, money, and the planets valuable resources of copper. You will never need 10mm for a cooker circuit.
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You have no idea what cooker will be bought now or in the future so its not a waste of time installing 10mm.Putting a 4mm cable in for a cooker circuit would be a waste of time and money because it would need to be replaced if a bigger cooker is bought. The 10mm won't need to be replaced.
So how is 4mm cable a better choice?
You haven't even asked about the installation method yet but you can claim to know 4mm cable will be big enough?
 
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