Can elec. cooktop and oven be on same circuit?


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Old 07-29-11, 04:16 AM
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Can elec. cooktop and oven be on same circuit?

I have an electric oven running what I assume is 240 volts of AC. We want to replace our gas cooktop with an electric one which would also (assumingly) run 240, if you want anything with more than one or two burners.

Is it acceptable to install a junction box in the basement on the oven's 240 circuit and run another lead off that to the cooktop? I'm guessing this would pull the same amperage as a regular Range, it's just the Range has been split into two pieces.

Thanks!
 
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Old 07-29-11, 07:20 AM
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Some ovens are on a 30 amp breaker wired with #10. Cook tops use a 40 amp and sometimes a 50 amp breaker on #8/#6 wire. If the original wiring is 3 wire with no ground or uninsulated neutral it would not be code compliant to extend it. It is probably not best practice to try to run both on the same breaker.
 
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Old 07-29-11, 09:04 AM
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In some cases you can do that, but it is unlikely that the planets will line up considering one of the appliances is already installed. The very first requirement is that the existing circuit would need to be four wire (hot, hot, neutral, ground). If it is three wire then you cannot modify the existing circuit at all.

Presuming a four wire circuit, let us know the AWG of the wires, the nameplate information of the oven (kW rating) and of the cooktop.
 
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Old 07-29-11, 11:04 AM
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I'd make book that the manufacturer's instructions for both specify a dedicated circuit.

I also HAVE to ask, why in god's name do you want to replace gas with electric? It's much less efficient and a whole lot more expensive.
 
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Old 07-29-11, 12:08 PM
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I also HAVE to ask, why in god's name do you want to replace gas with electric? It's much less efficient and a whole lot more expensive.
Also, If your power fails, you can't cook.
 
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Old 07-29-11, 12:40 PM
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Yeah that too! At least gas you can light with a match! That was one of the deciding factors for me switching out my electric stove for gas.. Power failures are getting too common here and I can't run the stove off the generator. After I switched, the electric bill went down a lot more than the gas bill went up.
 
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Old 07-29-11, 02:38 PM
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No getting around it, making heat from electricity is inherently inefficient
 
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Old 07-29-11, 03:53 PM
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I have a gas stove and I can't wait until we replace it with an electric cook top. I won't say any of the reasons you guys mention aren't legitimate and good reasons to use gas, but this is what I don't like about gas. I find a lot of the heat goes around the pots instead of through them. It takes me about twice as long to boil a pot of water with gas than electric. I'm sure nice expensive pots would help this situation, but I'm not investing in $1,000 worth of pots. It's hard to get a low heat with gas. No matter how small of a flame, it's still really hot in the spot where the flame is. Lets not forget how much easier a nice glass electric cook top is to clean than a gas cook top. I know electric does cost more than gas, but is it really that noticeable for cooking purposes? I told my wife when we remodel the kitchen (several years from now), we are getting an electric cook top.

I think maybe once or twice in my life were we not able to cook because of the power going out. If it's that big of an issue, I can always go out and fire up the grill.
 
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Old 07-29-11, 07:57 PM
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If you think the glass tops are easy to clean and stay nice and pretty like on the Mr. Clean commercials, you've obviously never owned one. Once you have a pot boil over, that's it. The glass is ruined. That's what happened to my $1700 glass top range the first time I used it.

There was no stove when I moved in, and the kitchen was wired for electric, so I went big - stainless steel with the glass top.. Biggest (and costliest) mistake I ever made. I absolutely hated it. Since the house has gas service I ran a gas line to the kitchen and bought a new sealed burner gas range (cost $900). Not only is it easier to clean, it's cheaper to run (yes, it is VERY noticeable - my electric bill dropped nearly $100/mo, while the gas bill only went up about $20/mo).

I don't know what's wrong with yours (possibly an undersized gas line, faulty/clogged regulator, or partially closed valve), but mine heat faster than the electric ever did, and I don't have $1,000 AllClad cookware. I roll with my $69.99 T-Fal set and $29.99 wok from Target. Electric is the b@stard stepchild of the cooking world. There is nothing good about it except if you're baking bread (burning gas releases moisture which negatively affects the bread in a standard oven).
 
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Old 07-30-11, 05:50 AM
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Interesting. My wife had an electric cook top in her condo before we got married. I'm pretty sure her parents have one in their kitchen as well. Neither had problems with it. I'm sure my wife has had a pot boil over on it, she never pays that kind of attention to her cooking. I'll have to ask my in-laws if they ever had a pot boil over.

I don't have a problem getting heat out of the gas stove, it just all goes around the pot. When I boil water with gas, the sides of the pot are extremely hot. If I stick a spoon into the water to stir it, the water that rises up flashes to steam on the sides. That never happened while using electric. As for the oven, I have no issue with a gas. We can easily buy that separately.
 
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Old 07-30-11, 07:15 AM
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Guys we are getting off topic here. Lets wait for blah1133 to respond back so we can help him with his original question. When he responds and his original question is answered to his satisfaction if he wishes to discuss gas vs electric we can.
 
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Old 08-01-11, 12:34 PM
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Thanks for the info guys. I'll get more info and get back to you.
 
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Old 08-01-11, 12:39 PM
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Nah, not really interested in a gas/electric debate. I'm aware of the benefits of each. I'm just trying to find out what my options are for wiring up the cooktop to the oven circuit. Thanks for the help, and I'll try and get to the wiring info tonight.
 
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Old 08-02-11, 04:43 AM
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Oven and wiring pic

The wiring looks a bit fishy from the junction box (the top run is going out to the oven in the pic): imgur: the simple image sharer

Also, the model of the oven (GE Model #: PK916DRBB): PK916DRBB | GE Profile
 
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Old 08-02-11, 07:21 AM
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To answer your question : NO.
Those wires are too small to support a cooktop, the cooktop usually needs 8awg wires. Those wires can only support the oven.
 
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Old 08-02-11, 09:03 AM
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The existing circuit is at maximum capacity. If you install the new cooktop it will require a new circuit back to the breaker box. Depending on the size and feature set of the new cooktop the circuit will need to be 30A with #10-3/g cable, 40A with #8-3/g cable, or 50A with #6-3/g cable. The vast majority of cooktops would be okay with the 40A option if you're trying to plan ahead for what you might get.
 
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Old 08-02-11, 09:46 AM
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Originally Posted by ibpooks
The existing circuit is at maximum capacity. If you install the new cooktop it will require a new circuit back to the breaker box. Depending on the size and feature set of the new cooktop the circuit will need to be 30A with #10-3/g cable, 40A with #8-3/g cable, or 50A with #6-3/g cable. The vast majority of cooktops would be okay with the 40A option if you're trying to plan ahead for what you might get.
Standard hot coil (open or glass) cooktops take 40A, an induction (magnetic) cooktop usually calls for 50A.
 
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Old 08-02-11, 11:25 AM
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hi guys –

Hey can I please make a few comments here about glass cooktops? Seems relevant since folks reading this thread are already probably going to be influenced about glass cooktops so I feel I must add this.

I had a 40 inch wide space in my kitchen with an old defunct electric range - and no gas. I could only find two 40” electric ranges as a replacement. I went with the 40” “Sears Kenmore Elite Electric Range with glass cooktop”.

The glasstop is somewhat of a chore to keep clean, but I’ve been handling it fine. I did boil over a lot of tomato soup on the top twice – and it was a real bear to clean up. I even had to do some careful scraping with a razor blade. But I did it and it still looks new. I’ve boiled over rice and other things and splashed other things many times on the top when cooking, but when the cooktop cools it hasn’t been that bad at all to clean the top with some standard cooktop cleaner.

The manufacturer does warn, however, against boiling over substances with high sugar content. Supposedly that may damage the glass so you should try to get it up immediately . My only fear is dropping something on the glass, but that hasn’t happened yet.

After 5 years I have 2 little scratches on the glasstop that you have to look hard to find!
 
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Old 08-02-11, 11:44 AM
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I haven't had any trouble keeping mine clean - glass cleaner for the easy stuff, Bon Ami for anything the glass cleaner won't cut.

Hasn't scratched yet
 
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Old 08-02-11, 11:46 AM
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Shortly after they came out with the glass cook tops my mother wanted one. She had a free-standing range so I bought her one with the glass top. This was probably around 1974. She used that range until her death in 1997. She never had a problem with the glass top although (of course) things did occasionally boil over. Just as Zoesdad pointed out, you simply wait until the glass is cool and then carefully scrape it off or use a wet sponge to soften the spill before cleaning.

As I recall there was some kind of cleaner or polish or something that she occasionally used. Yep! Do a Google for glass cook top cleaner and it is readily available.
 
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Old 08-02-11, 04:41 PM
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I don't quite understand how it would be harder to clean than a porcelain top range. Certain things get on my current range that are a bear to remove without a special cleaner. Otherwise, most food stuff comes up when soaked enough with water. I just want a flat surface with no grills to remove and not have worry about clogging up the gas orifices.
 
 

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