My range gave out on me (well, it didn’t so much “stop working” as “don’t turn off the broiler, even if you turned on just the stove”), and I am having a new one delivered. I thought it was going to be installed, but the delivery instructions say, “Leave In Counter.” Since the existing oven can be removed just by moving it and then unplugging it, should it be that hard to “install” the new one, or is it just (a) plug it in, (b) move it into place, © start cooking things?
If the new one and the old one have the same plug, for example a 240/120v 50a or 240v 30a or whatever plug, then it’s really not that much different than unplugging and plugging in anything else. Albeit the plug is much larger and if it’s between counters you may have to pull it partially out, jump behind it to unplug it and push it the rest of the way out, and the reverse to get the other one in. Protip: sometimes you can pull the bottom drawer out to get at the plug.
However, if the new plug and original outlet don’t match, then you need to go from there. If the original outlet is rated for more amps, you should be able to put a different outlet and smaller breaker on, but going to a higher amp outlet or extra one with extra wires is whole other thing and will highly depend on what’s going on inside the walls.
In a perfect world the new plug and old outlet match OR, like many dryers, it could come with the ability to just swap out the cord.
Can you give us a link to the make/model of the new one and either the old one or a picture of the outlet?
Picture of the outlet. Note that I had to order the plug separately, and it gave me a choice between 3 prongs and 4; I bought the 3-prong one. Also, I assume that I need to connect the cord to the range myself; it doesn’t look that hard to do.
You’ve got a NEMA 10-30 outlet. It’s 120/240 30amp outlet.
You’re new range calls for either 3 or 4 wire (depending on other things) outlet but it requires a 50amp outlet.
Now, if it were me, first thing I’d do is check the wires in the outlet box and the breaker and see what gauge they are. In a perfect world, they’d be something along the lines of 6 or 8 (and not jammed into a conduit with a bunch of other wires). If they’re smaller, you’ll have to pull bigger wires and upgrade the breaker. If you do that, you should pull a ground wire as well and put on the proper NEMA 14-50R as well. (on preview, I see you picked up the 3 cord plug, even if you pull a ground wire, you still use a 3 wire type outlet 10-50R, you’d just ground the box for some added protection and some future proofing).
Having said all that, there’s always the chance the stove doesn’t actually pull anywhere near 30 amps, but you didn’t hear that from me, also it would be totally illegal to just stick a 50amp outlet on wires and a breaker sized for 30amps.
Actually, that’s not my actual outlet; it was just a photo of what I thought it looked like.
Also, the circuit breaker for the outlet appears to be marked for 40 amps - and according to the specifications on the web page, it only needs a 40-amp rating.
Well, um, that was a lot of really specific instructions based on how to upgrade that outlet, do you want to figure out what the actual outlet looks like.
Appears or is, I don’t really want to spend all this time writing another post and be wrong. For the record, I would base what you do not on a website, but on the manual or nameplate. The NEC often falls back to that over everything else, even itself. If something is done incorrectly, you need to be able to point to the manual or nameplate, not a website.
So, my advice is to figure out what kind of outlet you need and bring everything up to code from there. The plug you bought isn’t going to fit into anything but the receptacle it’s made for. If the one behind you current stove is the correct one, go for it, if it’s not, it’s likely a lower amperage one, with smaller (thinner) gauge wires and a smaller breaker. You can do you want with that information.
You are WAY ahead of most people! (Reading the installation instructions.)
FYI - Different models of electric ranges will call for different amperages of circuit breakers. So good for you to read the instructions and be sure you have the correct breaker amperage (for your specific model range), installed.
If you are not comfortable connecting the wiring, I would recommend calling an electrician. If it is a simple job, all the more reason to call an electrician. Charges for doing things which don’t take much time are near the minimum charge.
And you will sleep better knowing the job was done right!
You have the answers here: You must know the rating for the existing breaker and the new stove and they have to match. Your plug has to match the outlet. If you haven’t got those two things correct then don’t plug in the stove (and if the second one isn’t correct plugging it in should be impossible anyway).
After that there are a couple of other things. First you’ll need to level the stove. There will be one or more adjustable feet to make sure it’s level. It’s not going affect the operation of an electric range or oven but you don’t want everything sliding over to one side of your frying pans. Your stove should also come with a hold down device. This would be a metal clip that you screw into the floor and one of the back legs slides into. This prevents the stove from tipping over when the oven door is open and a rack with a heavy pan is extended out. These became common when stoves became much lighter with thinner metal and lighter insulation.
I vote for an electrician.
Good news: not only did the delivery come in the early part of the window (I was told 4:15 to 6:15; the truck arrived at 4:30), but (a) they took it out of the carton, and (b) the cord was already attached!
I called a local electrician; he said he would send someone out tomorrow to look over the wiring. It’s not as simple as swapping out a 40A breaker for a 50A one; they require different types of wire. However, the range “should” work fine as long as I don’t run too many things at once. I am not an electrical engineer by any means, but if I have a 220V outlet and a 40A breaker, it should support 8.8 kW, right? The specs say the broiler uses 3 kW (“just the oven” uses 2.6), the two smaller stove burners 1.2 kW each, the medium-size one 2.5, and the large one 2.7.
Minor nitpick - standard North American voltage is 240/120V so it is 9.6kW.
Sounds like you’re done. 50-amp outlets are normal for ranges, regardless of the breaker feeding it. If the existing wiring checks out, you can have the electrician up the breaker to 50 amps, but in reality, how often will you have the broiler and all four burners going on high?
If you have a DPST 40 amp breaker, you probably have 10g wire. No electrician should just drop a 50 amp breaker in (and 50amp receptacle) without upgrading to 8g*, or larger depending on other correction/adjustment factors. It’s not about what the stove is designed to draw, it’s about protecting the wiring in case there’s a problem. A 40a breaker will blow before 10g wire will catch fire, but if the stove has a problem and suddenly starts drawing 50 amps…what happens when the 50 amp breaker doesn’t pop and wires start smoldering in the walls?
Like I said in my first post, the stove probably won’t pull anywhere near 40amps, but an electrician probably won’t put a 50 amp breaker and 50amp outlet on if there isn’t 8g wire.
A few other things, all those numbers added up comes to around 35amps. I wouldn’t mess around with ‘I’ll just be careful’. Another part of all this isn’t about you, it’s about everyone else. What happens if someone that isn’t you, like the next person that owns the house uses the stove, or even the next person the owns the house puts in a new stove that requires more amps without turning everything on at once and doesn’t know that the wiring isn’t up to code.
Interestingly, there’s certain cases where you’re actually allowed to use thinner wiring. For example, with a welder, you can install a 50 amp outlet but instead of 8g wire, you can use something like 12 or 14 (off the top of my head) with a similar sized breaker. Most people choose not to do that because the next person to own the house and use the breaker would end up with problems as soon as they used it.
*Unless local code is stricter.
Is it 10 vs 8, or 8 vs 6?
Anyway, I had the electrician come out and look at it. It’s definitely the “40 amp” wire, and would cost something like $750 to upgrade it to the “50 amp” kind. However, he also checked out the current draws for the possible combinations of the burners and oven/broiler, and he said that it won’t be a problem as long as I keep the total below 32 amps (80% of the 40 rated), which will not be a problem (I can run all four burners if the oven is off, or a large and a small (or 3 small) burners with the oven or broiler).