Looking to upgrade your kitchen for the upcoming festive season? Consider Installing an Electric Oven. Learn what features to look for and make a perfect choice.
Whether you are a food lover or not, your kitchen is the heart of your home, and an oven is one of the most important kitchen appliances. It plays a crucial role in keeping you busy as you whip up delicious meals for your family.
Hence it’s important to know what features to look for in an oven as per your needs. Whether you need a double oven, or should you be looking for wall ovens? Does an electric stove work for you or an electric cooker?
Let’s look in a bit more depth and address all the questions that need to be answered before buying your next electric oven.
Is it worth fixing an oven or installing a new electric oven?
Is your oven showing signs that it might break down anytime? Or does it have just a few faults that can be cheaply repaired while all other functions work well?
In either case, if repairing your oven is not too costly, it’s always worth it to call a licensed electrician to get it fixed rather than buying a new one. Most electric ovens last for 20 years or more before it’s time to replace them.
However, if your oven has more serious faults and it’s getting inconvenient to cook or bake, this might be a signal that a repair won’t do. It’s time to buy a new electric oven and get rid of the problem once and for all.
Types of ovens and their differences
As the unsung hero of your kitchen, we do not take into much consideration when buying an oven.
With plenty of different types of ovens available in the market, it’s worth taking a look at what each has to offer before you set your heart on buying the best one.
Generally, these can be categorised into the energy source they run on.
Gas Ovens:
Gas ovens are a popular choice among homeowners. Despite being expensive upfront, these are extremely cheaper tand simpler to run
However, depending on the type of food you like to cook, this can impact your buying decision since gas ovens do not tend to brown the food as effectively as their electric counterparts.
Electric Ovens:
Second in the line are electric ovens, which are the most common choice for households due to their low upfront cost and a huge variety of brands offering various features and models. However, they can be costly to run due to rising electricity prices.
These can be further classified into convection and conventional electric ovens.
The difference is in how the food is cooked using both. While a conventional oven heats from the bottom up, a convection oven evenly distributes the heat throughout the food.
They come in varieties such as wall ovens and double ovens to match your needs. You might also come across cleaning functions such as self-cleaning ovens. You can also choose from stainless steel and other varieties.
Steam Ovens:
While these might not be the preferred choice of many, households looking for a healthier cooking option generally opt for steam ovens, as it cuts down the need for adding oils and tends to retain more nutrients in the food.
These are water-based ovens that use a water boiler with steam heating the oven.
They can be more costly than other types of ovens even for the very basic models.
Why should I buy a range cooker over a standard oven?
Depending upon your need, range cookers and standard built-in ovens can both be great choices for your kitchen.
Generally, range cookers are up to 50% more spacious than standard ovens offering multiple compartments and plenty of storage. These have multiple features, come in various designs and colours and act as a centrepiece of your kitchen.
Standard ovens, on the other hand, are ideal for smaller kitchens. These can be installed into the walls (wall ovens) conveniently, offer advanced cooking programs, and seamlessly blend with the rest of your kitchen.
Setting up the electrical infrastructure for installing an Electric Oven
Should you choose to go for an electric oven, you will require an electrical infrastructure in order to get it installed and use it safely.
Some of the things to look into when setting up the electrical infrastructure for your oven includes:
Safety Switches and RCD:
An electric oven is required to have a safety switch or RCD installed. This will need some level of rewiring and a new circuit to be connected to the electric cooker control unit.
Arc Fault Protection Devices:
In order to prevent electrical fires due to excess heating up, an arc fault protection device needs to be connected to the electric oven through the electrical switchboard.
Isolation Switches:
When you have an isolation switch installed on your electric oven, any repairs or maintenance work being carried out on your oven can be done without cutting the power to your other electrical devices.
Can you plug an electric oven into a normal socket?
Since electric ovens have a higher power requirement, these might not be able to be plugged into a normal Power Point that’s already in your kitchen.
You would require a 220 Volt outlet to safely run your newly installed electric oven.
Do you need an electrician to install an electric oven?
This is a big yes!
Installing an electric oven involves more than buying and plugging the appliance in. This is due to the rewiring that is installed in the process and the fact that your current power point might not be able to take on the load your new electric oven will put on the existing circuit.
An incorrectly installed appliance, oven or otherwise, can pose a major safety risk to you and your family.
Hence, it is highly recommended that you call a local, licensed electrician to install your electric oven.
As licensed electricians in Ballarat, we can help you with your next electric oven installation.
Feel free to get in touch with us today!
