Cooker Installation Costs UK — What to Charge to Connect an Electric Cooker or Oven in 2026

The Two Jobs Hiding Inside "Cooker Installation"

When a customer rings and says "I need a cooker installed," they almost never know which of two very different jobs they're actually asking for. The whole quote hinges on this distinction, so it's the first thing to establish — ideally before you turn up, but certainly before you give a fixed price.

• Connecting to an existing cooker point: There's already a cooker control unit (the switch with the outlet plate below it) and a dedicated circuit back to the consumer unit. You're terminating the appliance into the connection plate, testing and certifying. Quick, low-risk, £60–£120.
• Installing a new dedicated cooker circuit: There's no suitable point. You're running new cable from the consumer unit, fitting a cooker control unit, possibly chasing walls, and adding the right protection. This is notifiable work and a much bigger price — £200–£450+.

Never quote a fixed price for a cooker connection sight-unseen unless you've confirmed a suitable point exists. "How much to connect a cooker?" over the phone should always get a conditional answer.

Connecting to an Existing Cooker Point

This is the common, straightforward job — and the one most homeowners assume every cooker install will be. If a working cooker circuit and control unit are already in place, sized correctly for the new appliance, you're simply disconnecting the old unit and terminating the new one.

Freestanding Electric Cooker

A freestanding (range-style or standard slot-in) electric cooker connects via a cooker connection unit — the outlet plate near floor level fed from the cooker control switch above the worktop. You strip and terminate the cooker's flex tail into the plate, check polarity and earthing, and confirm the existing circuit and cable are rated for the appliance's load.

• Connect to existing point: £60–£120
• Typical time on site: 30–60 minutes including testing

Built-in Oven and Separate Hob

A built-in oven paired with a separate hob is where customers most often get confused. If both run off a single cooker circuit, you can wire both into a cooker connection unit or a dual outlet plate — provided the combined load and the cable rating support it. Check the rating plates: many single ovens draw 13A or less, and a great many induction and ceramic hobs pull a far heavier load.

• Wire in built-in oven + hob to existing circuit: £80–£150
• Plug-in (13A) built-under oven: simplest of all — often just a fused connection or even an existing socket

Plenty of modern single ovens are supplied with a 13A plug and are designed to go into a standard socket. If that's the case and a suitable switched spur or socket exists, the job is barely an electrical job at all — but you still want to confirm the circuit isn't already loaded up, and that the customer understands an oven and a high-power hob can't both share a single 13A spur.

Installing a New Dedicated Cooker Circuit

This is the job that catches people out. New-build kitchens, conversions, properties where the previous occupant used gas, or older homes where the kitchen has been moved — none of these necessarily have a cooker circuit where the customer now wants one. Running a new dedicated circuit is a different scale of work, and it's notifiable under Part P (more on that below).

A new cooker circuit typically involves:

• Running the correct cable size from the consumer unit — 6mm² twin-and-earth is the common choice for many domestic cookers, stepping up to 10mm² for higher-rated appliances or longer runs
• Fitting a cooker control unit / cooker switch with the correct rating (typically a 45A double-pole switch)
• A correctly rated protective device — an MCB, or increasingly an RCBO for combined overcurrent and RCD protection at the consumer unit
• Confirming the consumer unit has a spare way of suitable rating, or fitting one if not
• Chasing walls, making good, and certifying the new circuit

• New dedicated cooker circuit (straightforward run): £200–£350
• New circuit with chasing, making good, or consumer-unit work: £350–£450+

Cable Size and Rating

Cable sizing is where this job lives or dies. The cooker's total connected load, the circuit length, the installation method (clipped, in conduit, in insulation), and the diversity calculation all feed into the right cable and protective device. The old rule-of-thumb of 6mm² on a 30/32A circuit covers a lot of standard domestic cookers, but never size off a habit — size off the appliance rating plate and the run conditions. Under-sizing is a safety failure; over-sizing wastes the customer's money and your time.

Consumer Unit Capacity

Before you promise a new circuit, open the consumer unit. If there's a spare way of the right rating and the board is a modern split-load or dual-RCD type, you're fine. If the board is full, you may need to fit a separate enclosure with its own RCBO, or the conversation moves toward a consumer unit upgrade — which is a separate, much larger quote. Flag this possibility before you commit to a price; "the board's full" is one of the most common reasons a cooker job balloons.

Replacing a Cooker Switch or Cooker Point

Sometimes the circuit is fine but the cooker control unit is scorched, cracked, or under-rated for a new high-power appliance. Swapping the switch or the connection plate on an existing circuit is a quick job and not notifiable.

• Replace cooker control unit / switch: £60–£110
• Replace cooker connection plate / outlet: £50–£90

Range Cookers and High-Powered Appliances

Large range cookers — twin-oven dual-fuel-style electric ranges, big induction ranges, and American-style appliances — can pull a serious load. Some need a higher-rated circuit than a standard cooker, occasionally a 10mm² cable, and in a minority of cases the total household demand means you should check the main fuse and incoming supply with the DNO before adding a heavy new load.

Always read the appliance's installation instructions and rating plate. A 90cm induction range can have a connected load well beyond a conventional 32A cooker circuit, and manufacturers frequently specify the circuit rating and cable they require. Pricing a range cooker the same as a standard slot-in is a classic underquote.

• Range cooker on suitable existing higher-rated circuit: £90–£160
• New higher-rated circuit (10mm², heavier protection): £300–£500+

Part P and Notifiable Work

Part P of the Building Regulations (England and Wales) is the part of this job non-electricians forget and customers don't understand. The short version:

• Installing a new circuit — including a new dedicated cooker circuit from the consumer unit — is notifiable work. It must be carried out by an electrician registered with a competent person scheme (NICEIC, NAPIT, etc.) who self-certifies, or it must be notified to Building Control before the work starts.
• Connecting an appliance to an existing point, or replacing a like-for-like cooker switch, is generally not notifiable — it's maintenance/replacement of an existing circuit, not a new one.

This matters commercially as well as legally. The notification, certification and scheme membership are part of why a new circuit costs what it does — and it's worth spelling out to the customer who balks at the difference between "£80 to connect" and "£350 for a new circuit." You're not just running cable; you're certifying notifiable work that protects them and is required to be on record.

A Note on Gas Cookers and Hobs

This guide is about electric cookers, ovens and hobs. Gas appliances are a different trade entirely: connecting or disconnecting a gas cooker or gas hob must be done by a Gas Safe registered engineer, not an electrician. If a customer has a dual-fuel range, the electric side (oven, ignition, controls) is yours, but the gas connection is not — and you should never touch the gas. Be clear about the boundary in your quote so there's no confusion about who is doing what.

What Affects the Price

Two cooker jobs are rarely the same. The factors that move a quote up or down:

• Existing point vs new circuit: The single biggest driver. A connection is tens of pounds; a new circuit is hundreds.
• Single oven vs oven + hob vs range cooker: More appliances and higher loads mean more wiring, heavier cable and a higher-rated protective device.
• Cable size and rating: 6mm² for many cookers, 10mm² for heavy loads or long runs — the bigger the cable, the more material and labour.
• Consumer unit capacity: A spare way is easy; a full board pushes toward a separate enclosure or a full upgrade.
• Access and chasing: A surface clip-and-trunk run is quick; chasing a new circuit into plastered walls and making good adds real time.
• Part P: Notifiable work carries certification and scheme overheads that a simple connection does not.
• Disposal: Taking away the old appliance, if asked, is a small add-on — price it, don't absorb it.

Supply-and-Fit vs Labour-Only

Most cooker connections are labour-only — the customer has bought the appliance and you're wiring it in. That keeps your quote clean and your liability limited to the electrical work. Where you're installing a new circuit, you're supplying the cable, the cooker control unit and the protective device, so that's a supply-and-fit element on top of labour.

If a customer asks you to source and supply the appliance too, mark it up to cover your time, delivery handling and the warranty exposure — or, more simply, decline and let them buy it themselves. Most electricians don't want to own the appliance warranty for a cooker they didn't choose.

Day Rate vs Fixed Quoting

For a straightforward connection to an existing point, a fixed price of £60–£120 is the norm — customers expect a number, and the job is predictable enough to give one confidently once you've confirmed the point exists. Don't day-rate a 40-minute job; you'll either look expensive or undersell your minimum call-out.

For new circuits and anything involving the consumer unit, working off your day rate of £200–£300 (higher in London and the South East) is safer, because the unknowns — board capacity, chasing, run length — only fully reveal themselves once you're in. If you must give a fixed price for a new circuit, quote a range and state the assumptions: "Assumes a spare way in the consumer unit and a surface or accessible cable run. Chasing and making good, or a board upgrade, quoted separately if needed."

Quoting Tips — What to Check Before You Price

Cooker quotes go wrong when the electrician prices off the customer's description rather than what's actually behind the kitchen units. Before you commit to a number:

• Confirm a cooker point exists — and that it's a genuine dedicated cooker circuit, not a 13A spur someone has pressed into service.
• Read the appliance rating plate. Oven, hob and range loads vary enormously. The number on the plate decides cable size, protective device and whether the existing circuit copes.
• Open the consumer unit. Spare way? Modern board? RCD protection? This single check prevents the most common cooker-job overrun.
• Check the existing cable size and condition if reusing the circuit — an old 4mm² or 2.5mm² feed may not support a new high-power appliance.
• Look at the run for a new circuit — accessible loft/floor void vs a full chase into a tiled, plastered wall changes the labour materially.
• Flag Part P in writing whenever a new circuit is involved, so the certification and cost are understood up front.

A quote that states clearly what's included (connection, test, certificate), what's assumed (existing suitable point, spare way), and what would be charged separately (new circuit, board upgrade, making good) protects you from the awkward conversation when the "quick cooker connection" turns out to need a new circuit.

Quick Reference: Cooker Installation Prices UK 2026