On Thu, 17 Jul 2003 16:26:25 +0100, "The Question Asker"
wrote:

Hi, ive fitted a cooker before but previously it was a complete unit so just
had one wire from the back to affix to wall. This time we have a separate
hob/oven to fit and as such will have two wires, is it acceptable to connect
the two wires to the one wall box? if not what is the correct way to go
about it.. cheers

The problem with this approach is that the circuit fuse is designed to
protect the wiring as far as the appliance fuse. If you have a gas hob or
oven or possibly even an electric oven, they are likely to only have 13A
flex fitted. If you wire this directly into a cooker outlet, then the
circuit fuse, being likely 32A or higher, will allow the wiring to overheat
and possibly melt before it itself blows or trips. If you have an electric
hob, then it will nearly always be wired directly, but it will also have a
suitably rated cable to cope with the load and this will generally match the
circuit rating capacity. If you have a gas hob, then whatever oven you have
is probably only 13A at most (even if it is electric), and you might get
away with hooking both together to the same fixed outlet *provided* you do
the right thing at your consumer unit and fit a 15/16A fuse or breaker.

Appliances rated at 13A or less should usually be connected via a suitably
rated fused 13A plug to a socket. If your cooker outlet also has a socket
(a rather old style, but still around), then you can use that provided the
total load on the outlet and socket combined won't overload the fixed cable
or the fuse protecting it.

--
John