# Forum Home Renovation Electrical  Replacing old freestanding stove

## tims

Hi
My sister has done a kithen reno and has offered me her old freestanding gas top/electric oven to replace my aging 1970's electric hotplate/oven. On this 'new' gas/electric oven there is only one plug that I've been told is a 15 amp plug (it has the enlarged earth pin) and on the oven's info sticker it says the oven draws 3.05 kW. 
My existing stove has two mains cables feeding it that go to two separate switches by the stove - one to a switch for the hotplates and another switch to the oven.  Each of these switches has their own fuse at the switch board (has old style ceramic fuses).  What I want to know is how much work there will be to install the new oven/gas top please.  If it requires major rewiring/switch board work I may just stick with my old stove. 
Some questions, please: 
*Can the electrician use one of these cables and install a 15 amp plug socket in place of the existing switch?
*If this is not possible (new oven drawing too much current for one cable?) can he combine both existing cables together to get around this and maybe replace the the two separate fuses at the switch board with just one fuse that would feed the 15 amp socket  
Thanks.

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## Bros

Can’t advise on the gas but the existing cable will be satisfactory for the oven. Now as for the switchboard I thing it is time you got rid of the old ceramic fuses and replaced them with RCBO’s.

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## David.Elliott

Here in the West I am told IF the electrician needs to do any work on/in the switchboard he has to upgrade to RCBOs. Not cheap but a worthwhile exercise.  Recently we had a rat chewed wire we discovered due to a couple of tripping GPOs.  Electrician (friend)  commented with the old style fuse there was a good chance we could well have lost the house one day. The wires were arcing between the chewed Active and Neutral 
More costly I think could be the gas. Do you have gas to the house otherwise?

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