Induction hobs

[ShaunB]

Guys
I need to ask a question.

I've purchased an induction hob from Currys, booked installation for it, and a washing machine.
The fitters have said that they are not allowed to fit the hob, because its above a cutlery drawer (which is quite deep I might add) and has already a decent gap to the bottom of the existing ceramic hob.
He said there needs to be a thermal plate between the drawer and the hob.
He did say that they were putting a washing machine into another house yesterday, and the home owner had an electrician there fitting an induction hob above a cutlery drawer and he said it was no problem.

Everything I read online by people posting says they've done it without problem.

So, do any of you have an induction hob above a cutlery drawer?

The cutlery at worst case is 60 - 65mm from the bottom of the existing hob, with the compartment with the least amount of things in it being 80-85mm from the bottom of the existing hob.

Have called an electrician, he said he's not heard of it being a problem before.

 

[MancMike]

Is he thinking of sharp things cutting into wires etc on the bottom of the hob?

Can't you cancel the fitting service and have the other electrician you called do the job?

 

[ShaunB]

Sorry, should have said, he said its so I don't burn my hand on the bottom of the hob when getting things out of the drawer.
They gave me a docket to take to the store which will refund my installation charge for the hob.

 

[MancMike]

...but induction hobs don't produce heat... The pan that's sat on top gets hot because eddy currents are rushing through it. The base is the shield for the induction coil otherwise that'd get as hot as the pan and it'd be a fire hazard and an energy waste. The base of the unit just doesn't respond to the frequency of the induction coil, your induction pans do, that's why not even all metal pans get hot on the hob.

It's perfectly normal to have drawers under induction hobs, it's one of the many benefits of having a hob that's a couple inches thick...

It sounds like he's being over cautious. Tell him you'll be careful, get the refund and get the other guy to fit it.

 

[Deleted member 113659]

I have fitted many a kitchen with a 600/800/1000mm drawer pack below the induction hob. Never had any issues at all.

The reason of burning your hand is nonsense. When you open a shallow cutlery drawer you can’t even get your hand in the unit to touch the underside of the hob.

Get your money back and ask a local sparky to wire it in.

Hope you’ve got yourself a nice new set of induction compatible pans too.

 

[ShaunB]

I have fitted many a kitchen with a 600/800/1000mm drawer pack below the hob. Never had any issues at all.

The reason of burning your hand is nonsense. When you open a shallow cutlery drawer you can’t even get your hand in the unit to touch the underside of the hob.

Get your money back and ask a local sparky to wire it in.

Its very fecking frustrating.
My old hob broke about 3 weeks ago, I ordered new hob and washing machine from those dicks, was given an installation date of 10 days later as they didn't have the washing machine in stock, great I thought, 10 days will be fine.
The date approached, and no one called regarding installation, I go to the store to be told that the washing machine is in stock, but we've no stock of hobs!

Now this.

The other guy is going to fit it for me next week sometime, as he's away to a wedding at present and will organise a time to install with me on Monday.

I went our last week and bought induction suitable pans, can't even remember the make, they were about £120.
I purchase on reviews that they received from other people

 

[markjay]

We use portable induction hobs in the garden for when we have guests. There was never an issue with the base or the underside getting hot. In fact they are placed on a wooden table covered with a plastic cloth. But then again perhaps the portable type come with extra thermal insulation at the base?

 

[ShaunB]

I have fitted many a kitchen with a 600/800/1000mm drawer pack below the induction hob. Never had any issues at all.

The reason of burning your hand is nonsense. When you open a shallow cutlery drawer you can’t even get your hand in the unit to touch the underside of the hob.

Get your money back and ask a local sparky to wire it in.

Hope you’ve got yourself a nice new set of induction compatible pans too.

I know burning your hand is a load of balls, because you have to turn your hand so the palm faces up, then open the drawer at a certain position which then allows you work through to the hob base, while closing the drawer a bit at the same time.
The drawer I have is pretty deep

 

[WDB124066]

What does the hob manufacturer say about clearances, if your man is inventing things let them know you'll be sending them an invoice for training their staff and wasting your time.

 

[Deleted member 113659]

.......you have to turn your hand so the palm faces up, then open the drawer at a certain position which then allows you work through to the hob base, while closing the drawer a bit at the same time.

Hardly an action you’d do by accident though.

 

[Deleted member 131833]

Agree with what is above, fitted ours above cutlery drawer and never had a problem

Take care with buying pots we have bought some which were supposed to be for induction and they would not work possibly because the diameter of the hob to the pot seems critical, never a problem on Siemens hob but this latest Bosch seems to be fussy, wish we had bought Siemens.

 

[ShaunB]

What does the hob manufacturer say about clearances, if your man is inventing things let them know you'll be sending them an invoice for training their staff and wasting your time.

They say no drawers underneath, but an oven can be underneath with a divider and 20mm clearance from bottom of hob to divider

Agree with what is above, fitted ours above cutlery drawer and never had a problem

Take care with buying pots we have bought some which were supposed to be for induction and they would not work possibly because the diameter of the hob to the pot seems critical, never a problem on Siemens hob but this latest Bosch seems to be fussy, wish we had bought Siemens.

This Samsung hob has pan recognition apparently, so I'm told it adjusts according to the size of pan you use

 

[Deleted member 113659]

Just thinking. Going by their theory they wouldn’t install an induction hob at all unless it was above a fitted oven?

Because if there was a full height door pack underneath you could burn your hand/s on the underside of the hob when routing in the cupboard?

 

[Deleted member 113659]

Agree with what is above, fitted ours above cutlery drawer and never had a problem

Take care with buying pots we have bought some which were supposed to be for induction and they would not work possibly because the diameter of the hob to the pot seems critical, never a problem on Siemens hob but this latest Bosch seems to be fussy, wish we had bought Siemens.

We bought a great pan set from Pro-Cook. Not cheap but good quality.

 

[WDB124066]

Mmmm, don't want to rain on your remod but given this could there be insurance problems if there was ever a fire - even if it had nothing to do with the fire??

You have to install things as per manufacturers instructions especially hot nasty things in the kitchen even if you don't agree with what the manufacturer is saying if you don't want the potential of arguements later...??

 

[ShaunB]

Just thinking. Going by their theory they wouldn’t install an induction hob at all unless it was above a fitted oven?

Because if there was a full height door pack underneath you could burn your hand/s on the underside of the hob when routing in the cupboard?

If this thermal cover had of been present, then he was fully prepared to install.

He even said to me that if he wasn't so busy, he'd have taken off his Currys jacket and installed it for me.

 

[rf065]

They say no drawers underneath, but an oven can be underneath with a divider and 20mm clearance from bottom of hob to divider

Not sure why anyone thinks it OK to fit this hob when the manufacturers instructions say it cannot be fitted? The manufacturers spend a lot of time testing their products and would not say it cannot have a drawer under it just for the sake of it. I respect the guy who told you it cannot be fitted, their could be any number of reasons why that we have no knowledge of.

 

[markjay]

Mmmm, don't want to rain on your remod but given this could there be insurance problems if there was ever a fire - even if it had nothing to do with the fire???

The likely outcome in this scenario is that the insurer will pay the homeowner, then seek to recover their losses from the supplier's/fitter's Product Liability Insurance.

This is on the premise that the homeowner has discharged his/her legal liability by appointing a qualified and reputable supplier/fitter.

The homeowner can not be expected to know about the technical or safety requirements himself/herself.

But either way it's an unnecessary hassle for the homeowner.

 

[MancMike]

a plastic cloth.

You need to spend a bit more on ya cloths.

Take care with buying pots we have bought some which were supposed to be for induction and they would not work possibly because the diameter of the hob to the pot seems critical, never a problem on Siemens hob but this latest Bosch seems to be fussy, wish we had bought Siemens.

Yeah, it's the frequency of the electricity put through the coil. It has to resonate with the base plate of the pan. If it doesn't, no heat. Some hobs can adjust to a pan by varying the frequency until the most power is consumed (meaning the pan is soaking up the energy and turning it into heat). Some others don't adjust very far, or at all, so are fussy about pans, even ones rated to run on induction hobs.

especially hot nasty things

Induction hobs do not produce heat.

Not sure why anyone thinks it OK to fit this hob when the manufacturers instructions say it cannot be fitted? The manufacturers spend a lot of time testing their products and would not say it cannot have a drawer under it just for the sake of it. I respect the guy who told you it cannot be fitted, their could be any number of reasons why that we have no knowledge of.

The manufacturer never said it couldn't be fitted, the bloke who works for Curry's did. It's likely a standard precaution the fitters have to take as a get out of jail free card incase something goes wrong with a particular model of hob, even though it's unnecessary for 99% of hobs, but best to be safe than sorry as far as general appliance fitters are concerned, who won't know the individual recommendations by the manufacturer of each make and model.

There are professional kitchen manufacturers and installers on this very thread who've said it's fine too.

 

[ShaunB]

I've just downloaded the manual from Samsung
http://downloadcenter.samsung.com/content/UM/201407/20140704145406112/NZ64H37070K_EU_EN.pdf.

The appliance and its accessible parts become hot during use
Cables from electrical appliances must not touch the hot surface of the hob or cookware.

The Samsung rep in Currys said they regularly demonstrate a pan cut in half and a chocolate bar on the hob plate and pan at the same time to demonstrate that the hob doesn't generate heat.

In fairness it does say drawers may not be fitted underneath on page 16.

Maybe I should just take the entire things back to the bloody shop.

On the other hand, the Currys guy said just get an electrician to fit it for you.