Does anyone consider electric range continuous?

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ivsenroute

ivsenroute

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Florida
The GE appliance that I saw today stated in their directions left by the installer to use a 40 amp circuit but the appliance rating is 8.9kW which is 37amps at 240vac.

I can picture grandma making a turkey and have all 4 burners on Thanksgiving day for more than 3 hours so I am inclined to have them change from 8awg to 6 awg but I am questioning myself on this one.
 
ivsenroute said:
The GE appliance that I saw today stated in their directions left by the installer to use a 40 amp circuit but the appliance rating is 8.9kW which is 37amps at 240vac.

I can picture grandma making a turkey and have all 4 burners on Thanksgiving day for more than 3 hours so I am inclined to have them change from 8awg to 6 awg but I am questioning myself on this one.
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The turkey over 3 hours yes but i dought all 4 burners will run that long.
 
Jim W in Tampa said:
The turkey over 3 hours yes but i dought all 4 burners will run that long.
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And even if the burners were on they wouldn't all be on high and definitely not for 3 hours. The oven wcould be on for three hours but that cycles on and off.
 
Yeah, I understand the position of the NEC due to Table 220.19 but since the data plate is 8.9kW I just don't like the potential amperage to be so close but the code allows and specifies that so that is what must be enforced, not what I think but what the code says. it is technically rated at 8kW, not the 8.9kW.

What is intersting is that you can have a freestanding range rated at 14,050 watts but the notes in table 219.22 will allow a reduction from a58.5 amps down to 36.7amps.
 
peter d said:
If a range ran continuously for 3 hours or more I think you would would need to call the fire department.
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I like that answer Pete. :cool:

There is not a home range made that I would consider a continuous load.

If you look at the definition of continuous load in Article 100 you will note that the load must be at it's maximum for more then 3 hours.

During the course of 3 hours the oven will cycle, that cycling means the maximum load is not for 3 hours or more.
 
What Bob said.

Allso even if the stars aligned and everything kicked on for what would actually be a short period of time (not 3 hours) the breaker would hold anyway.

I've amprobed a range a few times. I would not be worried about this particular installation.
 
ivsenroute said:
Yeah, I understand the position of the NEC due to Table 220.19 but since the data plate is 8.9kW I just don't like the potential amperage to be so close but the code allows and specifies that so that is what must be enforced, not what I think but what the code says. it is technically rated at 8kW, not the 8.9kW.
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If that range was rated 12KW, it still could be fed with a 40A circuit and be code compliant.

It's been that way for a long time, and I've never heard of a problem (as in fire) associated with it.

Worst case scenario.....#8cu on 40A breaker.......breaker trips.
I've never seen that either on a 40A range circuit, although I suppose it's possible if every heating element is turned on at once.....which rarely, if ever happens.

Just my opinion
steve
 
hillbilly said:
If that range was rated 12KW, it still could be fed with a 40A circuit and be code compliant.

It's been that way for a long time, and I've never heard of a problem (as in fire) associated with it.

Worst case scenario.....#8cu on 40A breaker.......breaker trips.
I've never seen that either on a 40A range circuit, although I suppose it's possible if every heating element is turned on at once.....which rarely, if ever happens.

Just my opinion
steve
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Steve, you are absolutely correct. I just don't like the actual load. I still feel safe with only a 80% load on any circuit but I understand the code says different and history has proven itself (to the best of our knowledge)
 
It is not a relevant question, in my opinion. The notion of "continuous" comes into play when you start with an amount of power that will be drawn by a piece of equipment, and you have to decide whether or not you need to add 25% for its being continuous. But that is not how we take load into account, when we are talking about ranges. We use the table, and we don't add 25% to tabulated values.
 
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