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I've always heard that stoves and ranges should be on their own circuit, but am not sure if that applies to only electric or both.

We have a gas stove and I discovered recently that it is on the same circuit as the kitchen light (nothing big--it's a small kitchen) and one outlet. I want to add the dining room light fixture to it.

Is this safe to do or should my gas stove be on its own circuit.

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2 Answers 2

It's only necessary that electric stoves (ovens in the UK) have their own circuit. This is because they draw more current (30A in the UK) than a lighting or power circuit.

It's OK to have a gas oven plugged into a normal mains circuit as they only use electricity for:

  • The clock/timer
  • Lights in the ovens
  • The ignition circuit

None of these are heavy load, so can be safely accommodated on a standard circuit.

The same rules about not overloading a circuit apply of course, so check what else is on this one as well as the cooker.

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In the U.S. it is necessary for electric stoves to have their own circuit, because they are 220V devices. –  Brad Gilbert Jan 1 '13 at 18:52
@BradGilbert - Ah, all circuits in the UK are 230V. –  ChrisF Jan 1 '13 at 22:01
And in Sweden (don't know about the UK) some electric stoves are three-phase (400V), causing yet again the need for a separate circuit. –  Michael Kjörling Jan 5 '13 at 21:55

ChrisF's comment is very appropriate. Not much about a gas range or oven uses electricity, so whatever circuit it's on it's unlikely to make any impact. A typical kitchen will have dedicated circuits for microwave, dishwasher, and disposal. All other items would be a part of the two small appliance circuits required by the UBC. Oddly to me this includes the refrigerator. Newer refrigerators are fairly energy efficient, but many people still have energy hogging refrigerators. What's unusual in your case is that a lamp is on the small appliance circuit. Generally lights are on a lighting circuit. Note that I said unusual and not bad.

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Not unusual for my house. Gotta love living in a house previously owned by an amateur electrician. –  Scribblemacher Dec 31 '12 at 16:27
AFAIK Refrigerators are supposed to be isolated to prevent power loss to the fridge in the event of something else on the same circuit causing a trip/blown fuse. –  The Evil Greebo Dec 31 '12 at 16:31
The officials behind the NEC are concerned for my ice cream? I'm touched! :> Sorry, not buying it. More likely a fridge on a shared circuit would cause nuisance tripping, something they would be concerned with. –  bcworkz Dec 31 '12 at 23:38
Definitely can cause nuisance tripping. Our fridge is on a circuit with an appliance outlet. It can handle one appliance at a time, but if you try using the microwave and the electric tea kettle at the same time, you'll trip it. Might happen less often with a newer fridge. –  Scribblemacher Jan 1 '13 at 15:12

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