Confused about cooker power consumption.

SB118 · 9 Aug 2016 at 17:27

Looking at getting a new cooker, going for dual fuel. Seen a few ones that we like but i don't understand the power consumption figures i'm seeing.
example this one from ao.com lists the power as -
Energy Consumption Conventional (Main Cavity) 0.87 Kwh
Energy Consumption Fan (Main Cavity) 0.95 Kwh

But then further down it says it needs "Electrical Connection 3.2 KW, 13Amps", and that it needs fitting by an electrician.

How much power do they actually pull?

BinnsY · 9 Aug 2016 at 17:37

I think you will find that whenever the oven is actively heating it will pull close to that full 3KW in order to heat up the space inside the oven as quickly as possible. But over the course of an hour it won't need to pull that 3KW figure all the time as after 15 minutes or so it will be upto temperature and it will then turn the heater element off and on as needed to maintain whatever temperature it's set to.

I get the feeling those performance figures are designed to show how efficient the oven is. For example you may find a cheap oven could have a rating of 1.5Kwh as it looses heat quicker meaning the element is on more of the time and you are using more electricity each hour. Or in short, the lower the number the better.

james.miller · 9 Aug 2016 at 17:51

This doesnt help much, but our belling dual electric / ceramic hob will pull 11.5kw from cold if you switch everything on. juicy.

As far as that oven on AO goes, it comes with a 13amp plug. You dont need an electrician to plug a plug in. You will need a gas man though Indesit I6G52 Manual, page 4

SB118 · 9 Aug 2016 at 19:37

Much appreciated, wish the spec sheets could make this clear. Now to find the lowest possible initial draw so we can run it off the solar panels

jpaul · 9 Aug 2016 at 20:21

you should probably consider how long it takes to get up to temperature too,
if it has a low max power demand and can be plugged into a regular 13A socket, the price to pay maybe a long warm up time versus a more powerful oven which is say nearer 20A/~5Kw, needing a dedicated spur.
Also if it has a radiant grill - I thought these were typically 3KW alone, so could you have the oven on at the same time ?