Range Cooker Installation Requirements UK

A range cooker is not a plug-in appliance. Getting the services right before the kitchen is fitted is the difference between a smooth handover and lifting a new floor. Here is what's actually required.

Dual fuel range cookers

Gas connection. Must be made by a Gas Safe registered engineer. This is a legal requirement in the UK, not a manufacturer preference — an unqualified connection invalidates insurance and warranty and is genuinely dangerous.

Where the gas point goes. Position it so the flexible hose reaches without strain, and so the cooker can still be pulled out for cleaning and servicing without disconnecting anything. Behind the cooker but offset to one side is usually correct. Confirm the position against your specific model's spec sheet before the kitchen is fitted.

Electrical supply. Dual fuel cookers still need power for the ovens, ignition and controls. Check the rating for your model — some can run from a standard supply, others need more. We'll confirm before you order.

LPG. If you're not on mains gas, ask us about LPG conversion availability for the specific model before you buy. Don't assume it's available.

Browse dual fuel models.

Induction range cookers

Dedicated circuit. Induction range cookers need a dedicated high-amperage radial circuit run from the consumer unit by a qualified electrician. A standard 13A socket will not do it, and attempting to run one from a ring main is a fire risk.

The isolation switch must be accessible but not behind the cooker — usually on the wall to one side, above worktop height.

Consumer unit capacity. Older properties sometimes don't have spare capacity or a suitable board for an additional high-amperage circuit. Have this checked early, because upgrading a consumer unit is a job in its own right.

No gas connection and no annual gas safety check. That's a genuine ongoing saving, particularly for landlords.

We confirm the exact amperage requirement for your chosen model before you order. Browse induction models.

Air-Tec vented models

Same dedicated circuit requirement as standard induction, plus one extra decision: ducted or recirculating extraction.

Ducted vents outside and is more effective — it removes heat and humidity, not just odour. Recirculating filters the air and returns it to the room, which is simpler to install but needs filter changes.

Which is possible depends on where the cooker sits relative to an external wall or a floor void, so this can determine cooker placement. Resolve it at kitchen drawing stage, not after. See the Air-Tec collection.

Clearances

Manufacturers specify minimum clearances from the cooker sides to adjacent combustible surfaces, and from the hob to anything above it. For gas models these are safety requirements.

The practical implications: tall units immediately either side may need the aperture widened or heat protection fitted; and if you're fitting a hood, the gap between hob and hood underside must satisfy both manufacturers' figures — take the more demanding of the two.

Get the exact numbers from your model's specification sheet. Full detail in our guide to gaps and clearances.

Extraction

Every range cooker needs extraction, and a large one needs meaningful extraction. The hood should be at least as wide as the cooker and ideally wider, because steam plumes spread as they rise.

Size the extraction rate on room volume × 10 air changes per hour, and calculate on the whole connected volume in an open-plan space. Buy above your calculated figure, because quoted maximums are measured without ducting attached.

Read our full guide on extraction for range cookers.

The floor

Range cookers are heavy. Check the floor can take the point loading, particularly on suspended timber floors in older properties. Also check the finished floor level allows the levelling feet enough adjustment to bring the hob flush with the worktop.

Delivery access

Not strictly installation, but it stops more jobs than anything else. Measure the narrowest point between the delivery vehicle and the kitchen — clear door openings, hallway width, and critically the width at any 90-degree turn.

Read the delivery access guide and tell us about any tight points when you order.

The right order of operations

1. Choose the model
2. Get its specification sheet — aperture, clearances, gas and electrical requirements
3. Give those figures to your kitchen designer
4. Confirm the delivery route
5. Have the services run to the correct positions at first fix
6. Fit the kitchen
7. Take delivery
8. Have it connected by the appropriate qualified trade

Doing this in a different order is how people end up cutting into finished walls.

Call 0330 133 6617 and we'll pull the requirements for whichever model you're considering.