Unobtrusive Isolators close to Ovens but needing very long cable runs, are such runs OK.

[MikeSharp01]

The 'interior designer' has persuaded me to locate the isolators for the ovens on the kitchen island so they do not break up the aesthetic of the oven wall. These would be 1.4m from the Ovens across the gangway from the wall with the ovens. Each oven has a max draw of 3600W so 7.2kW with both on full power. Each of the two ovens will have there own 32A isolator in the Consumer Unit (CU), To achieve the run it ends up as a lot of 6mm cable: CU - Island (12m) & Island - Oven (15m) I am going to have 27m run (Voltage drop 3.5V approx), none in insulation but in duct and trunking. [I would need only 5m of 6mm cable if the switches were local to the ovens] So for these two ovens I will need just over 50m of cable which in itself is not a problem but I thought I would get a sanity check here to be sure I am not breaking any rules doing this - it looks OK to me regs wise.

 

Any thoughts - should I push back on the interior designer?

[Nickfromwales]

1 hour ago, MikeSharp01 said:

The 'interior designer' has persuaded me to locate the isolators for the ovens on the kitchen island so they do not break up the aesthetic of the oven wall. These would be 1.4m from the Ovens across the gangway from the wall with the ovens. Each oven has a max draw of 3600W so 7.2kW with both on full power. Each of the two ovens will have there own 32A isolator in the Consumer Unit (CU), To achieve the run it ends up as a lot of 6mm cable: CU - Island (12m) & Island - Oven (15m) I am going to have 27m run (Voltage drop 3.5V approx), none in insulation but in duct and trunking. [I would need only 5m of 6mm cable if the switches were local to the ovens] So for these two ovens I will need just over 50m of cable which in itself is not a problem but I thought I would get a sanity check here to be sure I am not breaking any rules doing this - it looks OK to me regs wise.

 

Any thoughts - should I push back on the interior designer?

What appliances are in the island? Hob I assume?

 

Your designer is spot on, in getting rid of the wall-warts, I always hide these under an adjacent cupboard / unit, Fugly on a good day imho. However, where you need to push back is, the location; have the hob isolator under the island / hob, and the oven isolators in the adjacent units.

[MikeSharp01]

6 hours ago, Nickfromwales said:

hide these under an adjacent cupboard / unit

I could put them in the cupboard below the ovens - the one above would be too high up, would that work? The hob is on the island along with the kitchen ring.

[G and J]

2 hours ago, MikeSharp01 said:

I could put them in the cupboard below the ovens - the one above would be too high up, would that work? The hob is on the island along with the kitchen ring.

Ours are (and/or will be) hidden away in nearby cupboards.  You need access every Julember so why worry about convenient access?

[joth]

It's best to check with whoever will be completing the EIC as appropriate location of isolators is in the regs and quite subjective. Ours insisted on putting them in the very nearest cupboard, which has resulted in a few getting knocked by large items being shoved into said cupboard 

 

Recently I've seen on other projects that electricians seem much less concerned these days, either putting all isolators together next to the CU, perhaps using minigrid switches, or even omitting isolators completely (e.g. for outside blinds). 

If they're happy signing the EIC then fair game. Pretty sure they had more conventional isolator for anything over 13A. 

Edited 16 hours ago by joth

[Nickfromwales]

13 hours ago, joth said:

It's best to check with whoever will be completing the EIC as appropriate location of isolators is in the regs and quite subjective. 

Location of isolators is wide open, and only stubborn electricians would try to polish their sheriffs badge over this tbh. These are there ONLY for localised disconnection, and not for safety etc. Sounds like either a lack of education or dick-swinging went on there.

 

If a sparky told me these were going next to the CU, he'd be going...................on the next bus.

 

16 hours ago, MikeSharp01 said:

I could put them in the cupboard below the ovens - the one above would be too high up, would that work? The hob is on the island along with the kitchen ring.

As above, in units / cupboards immediately adjacent is my go-to solution; so put the hob one in the island. Ask your spark to connect the hob with some HO5 flex and leave enough length to completely remove the hob and set it aside on the island, upside down, for future-proofing.

 

13 hours ago, joth said:

Ours insisted on putting them in the very nearest cupboard, which has resulted in a few getting knocked by large items being shoved into said cupboard 

So, brain-dead then. Off to the side and up very high is the order of the day.

 

The lack of GAF or joined-up thinking with trades still astounds me. That's what keeps me in a job, so, long live the muppets......

[joth]

1 hour ago, Nickfromwales said:

 

If a sparky told me these were going next to the CU, he'd be going...................on the next bus.

In the real world these decisions are really a dialogue, not a mandate. But can be an asymmetric dialogue if the customer isn't informed of the alternatives.

Either way point is to start that dialogue early rather than push it into brinkmanship. Many self builders are not in the position to be able to fire their electrician on a whim over the position of one isolator switch, so better to have the conversation at first fix rather than after the walls and floors are sealed