Getting a Cooker Circuit Right — Regulation, Cable Sizing, and the Switch You Need

An electric cooker or range is one of the highest-demand appliances in any home. A standard 32A ring main circuit — the kind that serves all your kitchen sockets — is not rated for a full-size electric cooker. The cooker needs its own dedicated radial circuit, correctly sized for the load, run from a spare way in the consumer unit (or a new consumer unit if there's no capacity).

Why a Cooker Needs Its Own Circuit

A standard double oven and ceramic hob combination can draw up to 45A under full load. Even allowing for diversity (the fact that all burners and both ovens are rarely at full power simultaneously), a correctly designed cooker circuit needs to be rated at a minimum of 30–32A. Running a cooker from a socket circuit is dangerous and likely to cause nuisance tripping or, worse, overloaded and overheated cables.

The Cooker Control Unit

Regulations require a means of isolation within two metres of the cooker and in the line of sight of it. In most kitchens, this is a cooker control unit (CCU) — a double-pole switch, often with an integrated 13A socket for a kettle or toaster. The CCU must be accessible and must not be positioned directly above or behind the cooker where it would be unreachable in a fire.

Induction vs Ceramic vs Range Cookers

Induction hobs are highly efficient and rarely draw full rated power for long — but their rated load is still high (typically 7.2kW for a 60cm hob). A double oven with an induction hob can easily be rated at 12–15kW total. A range cooker (Aga-style or a large freestanding range) may require a 50A circuit with 10mm² cable. The electrician will size the circuit to the specific appliance's data plate — never to a rough estimate.

This Is Notifiable Work

Installing a new cooker circuit is notifiable under Part P of the Building Regulations in England. A registered electrician self-certifies and issues a Building Regulations Compliance Certificate. If you are selling your home and a cooker circuit has been installed without certification, it will need to be inspected retroactively by building control — which costs more and takes longer than doing it right first time.

Range Cooker Conversions and Gas Disconnection

If you're converting from a gas range to an electric one, the gas supply to the old cooker point must be capped by a Gas Safe registered engineer before the electrician installs the new circuit. The two trades need to coordinate — a good electrician will flag this early so there's no delay on installation day.