Need to match breaker size to oven amps?

dbrew

Bought a new GE double oven. The amp rating for it says it is 30amps.

The house was built (1982) with a 50 amp breaker on the oven and I have been told I should put in a 30amp breaker instead to match the oven rating. I've seen plenty on raisng the breaker rating if the unit draws more than the breaker but haven't seen much on lowering the breaker.

My wire is 10AWG for black and red and 12AWG for the white.

Is it recommended to change the 50amp to a 30 amp.

Thanks for any advice.

iminaquagmire

Current code requires a 4-wire feed meaning a black, a red, a white, and a green. The oven should have a 4-wire cord or cable. And yes you should have a 30A breaker. All wire should be 10ga. What you have now is grossly undersized wire for the amperage of your breaker and the possibly for the case of your oven to become energized.

Saturday Cowboy

we are grandfathered in with the 3 wire supply. No it will not cause the oven frame to become hot. It is not inherently unsafe, maybe not as safe as a 4 wire supply.


Now If indeed you have 10ga wiring it should NEVER have been put on any breaker bigger then 30a.(a smaller breaker is ok). It is not uncommon for the neutral to be undersized. (not a great thing but ok)

SO since it asks for a 30a breaker lets give it one.

Do you feel comfortable working in a hot electrical panel? If not call a professional.

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Ragged Trousered Philanthropist


Please follow the code - its there for your safety no matter how inconvenient.

Speedy Petey

Anyone who gives advice like this without knowing every detail is a plain FOOL!

Just Bill

Check manufacturers directions!!!! But definitely 4 wire cable sized for the breaker.

dbrew

It looks like I should go to a 30 amp breaker regardless due to wire size. A 50amp may not have been a good choice to start with.

There is a green wire also so it is four wires, sorry I forgot to put that in the original post.

Thank you all for you input on this.

a7ecorsair

Just curious; are you saying the existing wiring that fed the old range was #10 and it was connected to a 50 amp breaker?

dbrew

Yes, the wiring to the old range is #10 and it is connected to a 50amp breaker. I'm not sure if that's the way the house was originally wired but the oven was an original Hotpoint oven.

I have just removed the 50amp breaker and will go get a replacement 30amp this afternoon.

a7ecorsair

hhuggles

You brought a smile to my face!!

It is okay to oversize the wires used to supply appliances.
NEVER overfuse!

dbrew

Thanks everyone. The breaker is changed with a Square D 30amp . Not too hard. The wires connected to the breaker are very thick stranded wires. They must get down sized somewhere else.

Moving on to the next task.

SparkandArc

Are you sure that your new oven is only a 30 amp? Every other "Double Oven" I have seen or installed called for a 50 or higher. I just wanted to be sure, maybe with these new efficient appliances they are lowering the ampere ratings.

kbsparky

Chances are, you had a combination circuit for both a cooktop and an oven.

The Code allows for a single circuit, such as 50 Amp to feed both appliances, even if each appliance only requires a 30 Amp circuit. In fact, the tap rules allow for a 20 Amp appliance to be fed off of a 50 Amp circuit, without having to change the breaker.

I'd be willing to bet you have a splice box somewhere near that oven where the #6 ("very thick stranded wires" as you stated) changes over to the #10 conductors. Look under the floor in the basement/crawl space, or even hidden in your kitchen cabinet.

Now IF you no longer have an electric cooktop present, then changing the breaker to 30 Amps is no big deal.

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Stubbie

20,30 and 40 amp double ovens are very common ... 50's are a little rare unless you go buying Viking ovens or the like.

I have to side with Kbsparky that you have 6 awg stranded to a junction box and tap wiring from there for the appliance (s). This was pretty common before the manufacturers started requiring individual branch circuits.

Also I'm not sure if 4 wires will be needed as there are far more double ovens that are 240 volts only than 120/240 volts.

I'm thinking you probably will just need 2 hots and ground and will cap the neutral.

Do you have the model # of your GE oven ?

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Stubbie

dbrew

The oven is a GE Profile PK956SRSS. It calls for a 30amp breaker. I also called them to double check.

I did find that the cook top is on its own 40 amp breaker. The old oven was a 1981 Hotpoint oven and microwave combination. Maybe they needed more back then. I've also checked everything I could think of and have not found any other items on the same breaker.