Hello all,

I am having my own nightmare before/after Christmas, and I am trying to understand the current rules and regs regarding installation of new gas cookers to get free of it.

My gas oven failed on Christmas Eve, in that it refused to turn off.  Being unable to get an engineer out the instruction was to turn off the gas supply, which was done and the night spent without heat/hot water.  I paid for a BG engineer who came Christmas Day and confirmed the oven cannot be used, so I need a new one.

The problem I have though is whether I can get a new oven installed in the same place.  From what I understand there is an Exclusion Zone around a cooker that must be free of hazards.  The cooker needs to stand in a spot between a wall on the left and the sink unit on the right.  The space between these is 900mm, so a 600mm wide cooker should have 150mm either side, and a 500mm wide cooker 200mm either side.  The wall on the left hand side is tiled, the wall behind the cooker is tiled.  There are no cupboards and no work surface involved.

The big issue is that above the cooker is an electricity power point.  This used to serve an electric cooker used by a previous house owner and also has a three point plug socket.  The power point is roughly 1100mm above the level of the hob (on a 900mm tall cooker).

From reading up today, my fear is that if I order a cooker, the installer turns up, sees the plug, and says that is within the Exclusion Zone and means I cannot have a new cooker installed where the current one is.  There is simply no where else in my horrible kitchen for it to go.

My question is two fold.  Does the mere presence of a plug socket above the space for a cooker mean that a qualified installer would always say 'No'?  Or, does the fact that the plug is 1100mm above a hob mean that it is actually clear of the 760mm vertical height of the Exclusion Zone?

Second question, which assumes the answer to the first is positive, is regarding the electric connection for a gas cooker.  My old/current cooker has a battery powered igniter, while all new models appear to only have a wired connection with a normal three-pin plug.  My understanding is that said wire cannot go up to the overhead plug socket, because the wire will be touch the rear of the cooker.  Is it then acceptable to run the flex from the cooker to a short extension lead, which then plugs into the next adjacent socket, which is around 3-4 metres away.  There is no other adjacent socket.

I'm getting a microwave tomorrow so I may be able to eat more than can be heated on the hob.  I'd just like to know whether there's a likelihood I can get a new cooker fitted, safely and legally, within the confines of the current kitchen set-up.  Thanks 

Paul -  wishing you a speedy recovery.

Paul - of course it is an important subject.

Good luck with your treatment - the heroes and heroines in the NHS do remarkable things.

For anyone who might find themselves with the same issues I noted in the original post.

We had to have a new electric socket installed adjacent to the cooker position.  Today we have had a new gas cooker installed.  Both the electric socket and cooker have been done by qualified fitters, with paperwork for both jobs.  The cooker installation did go through without reference to the overhead electric socket, which I beleived to be outside the 'hot zone' of 750mm above the hob level (actually being 1100mm above this).  The installer/fitter didn't raise any issues with the location.

If you do find yourself needing a new gas cooker my advice would be to try and download the manual for those designs you have an eye on.  They do include a section on where they can and cannot be fitted.  This is though rather brief in some cases.  I bought mine and the associated fitting from a major electrical retailer.  They will also have a page on their website outling the requirements.  Check both and measure up your intended space.  I have learned that what was OK even a couple of years ago may now be prohibited.  

I did also get confirmation that you cannot use an extension lead to bridge the gap from the cooker to the nearest socket, even if it is only to power the ignition and the oven light.