I have just discovered my Diplomat 600 electric is on the same circuit in my kitchen as my wall sockets.

New electrician says this dangerous and illegal and dangerous ..However, my old electrician I found trusthworthy and surprised he would doing anything to endanger my family.

Thoughts?

Thanks...

TH, May 2009

There's a fine diagram on page 17 of the part P document (Electrical Safety - Building Regs) here...

http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/br/BR_PDF_ADP_2006.pdf

It shows an Oven and separate Hob powered from a dedicated breaker with a Double Pole isolation switch in the Kitchen.

This I guess is how a new installation should be made to properly comply with the regulations.

If it were my cooker I would not lose any sleep over it - your new electrician may just be right in what he says and in these quiet times he might also be looking for a bit of extra work. Any illegality is doubtful and would be the responsibility of the original installer - not the householder.

A keen advocate of the regulations we now have was Baroness Tonge (Dr Jenny Tonge Liberal Dem MP for Richmond) following the tragic death of her daughter...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1473919/MPs-daughter-electrocuted-in-botched-fitted-kitchen.html

Peccavi, May 2009

Its usual these days for any hard wired cooker to have its own circuit breaker - but in days gone by they were wired into the kitchen ring main. Either way, if a fault developed the breaker would still trip, maintaining safety. Theoretically, the more individual circuits your house has, the better for fault finding and isolation etc and the less chance there is for overloading, so its best to consult your local building regulations people for their advice.

John, May 2009