Upgrading a 12kw 20A supply

[Mike1958]

We currently have a triphase 12kw 20A supply, can anyone advise whether:

1. It is totally unacceptable to install a cooker rated at 30A even if it is on its own feed from the fuse board.
2. Is it possible to upgrade to a 30A supply
3. I know the charges are higher based on the KW value, are they higher for a 30A supply

We would like to install a professional range cooker (mix of town gas and electric) but have been struggling to find what we want apart from in the UK.

Many thanks,

Mike

[Guest CFrost]

Not the expert but …..

1. Cookers usually have their own supply simply because of their current rating. A single phase one drawing 30A would certainly trip your main disjoncteur.
2. It’s quite simple to upgrade to a higher KVA supply – the links are usually already provided in your system. Are you quite sure you need to upgrade though? Without wishing to appear patronising if you divide the power rating (W) of your oven by 230v you will obtain the current required.  My own oven is comparatively very low – just over 10A!
3. As indicated above the higher the current the higher the kW or more correctly the kVA so yes a 30A supply will cost you more.  Don’t forget your 20A limit is per phase – buy a 3 phase oven and you might not need to upgrade.

Hope this helps.

[Punch]

[quote]We currently have a triphase 12kw 20A supply, can anyone advise whether: It is totally unacceptable to install a cooker rated at 30A even if it is on its own feed from the fuse board. Is it possibl...[/quote]

 

In answer to your questions;

1. Yes a 6KW cooker will trip your current supply if everything on the cooker is on at once, so you will need to upgrade.

2. Yes his is possible and is a free service by the EDF.

3. The standing charge will be slightly higher but the price per KWH will remain the same. the EDF website has all the current charges.

My advice would be to find out the power requirement of the cooker you are going to buy first, before making any decision to upgrade. It could save you a lot of money!

Cookers vary enormously in their power requirement! I have just had a customer this week who brought over a large range cooker from the UK which is rated 11.5KW. This is not only a problem (she has two chauffe eau's, an electric sauna, and all the other usual appliances) but will cost her dearly due to bad planning.

Paul

[Mike1958]

Many thanks for the useful information.

Taking a full load scenario the type of oven we were interested would draw 6500w needing a 28A rated supply at 230v. I gather that the internal cable within the house is capable of taking a 30A supply so I now need to check with EDF what runs to the house and how much it will cost to uplift.

Though talking it through with the head chef she seems to be giving up on the idea of a professional range with gas and electric and will now settle for two separate ovens and a large electric hob. More expensive to run but it would take an age to recover the cost of having gas plumber into the kitchen and the electric upgraded. These we will buy locally and should fit the supply that we have.

Again many thanks for all the contributions and advice.

Mike

[maxsan]

We had a trois phase 9kva system and when we rewired the electric company came round at our request and turned it to single phase 12 kva. I believe it is 40 amp. We also had a new meter fitted to replace the outdated one. Total cost. zero. you can go on the edf site and work out your electricity needs and, with a bit of wading, you can find the different charges for different levels of supply.

our problem with trois phase was that as soon as the hot water heater came on at the same time as other appliances it tripped the lot. Now we have no problems with a full range of appliances.