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Kitchen Fitting

Hob sutabke for non-ventilated electric oven

Anonymous user 29 January 2017 - 9.02 PM

After just over a year in my flat built in 2009 my Siemens ceramic electric hob stopped working. An engineer through Siemens concluded that this was due to condensation/water damage built up over time. The engineer concluded that the Siemens oven installed under the hob was fitted as per the manual with the correct space behind etc. The manual for the oven said nothing about additional ventilation requirement. However the manual for the hob installed above the oven stated that a non-ventilated oven should not be installed under the hob. A bit contradictory but Siemens claim that due to this the problem caused my hob to fail is due to construction error and therefore they are unable to help me. They did encourage me to contact the property developer saying they should be held accountable to fix the problem. I've been trying to get in touch with them but been unlucky so far. On the back of this I really have three questions: 1. Does Siemens reasoning sound reasonable even if the oven installation guide didn't say anything about additional ventilation this is "overruled" by the hob manual? 2. If this is the case, does the developer/contractor have any responsibility when the problem has taken so long to emerge? (also thinking about potential health and safety risk as this combination is installed throughout my building) 3. Do I have to replace both my oven (which is still working) and my hob or are there inbuilt hobs on the market that can have an non-ventilated oven installed in the sub-construction? Long question but really hope I can get some guidance here. Many Thanks

1 answer from MyBuilder tradespeople

Anonymous user

Hi it seems that your in a little bit of sticky situation. Im a professional kitchen fitter and over the years i have dealt with problems that have arisen in regards to the fitting requirements for kitchen appliances. It also seems that all manufacturers like to pass the blame onto any little problem they can find so they don't have provide you with a replacement. We fit kitchens week in, week out and on many occasions the same arrangement is used when the hob is above the oven. We personally have never had a problem with it before and we have done loads. So the answer to your questions 1 - If the hob manual clearly states that you must not fit the appliance unless it has a ventilated oven underneath then im afraid you can fight as much as you like but you are fighting a losing battle, so honestly i would not waste your time. 2 - I would definitely try and get in contact with the building contractor and stress to him the problem and see if they will put the problem right. 3 - My honest opinion is that i don't think you need to replace the oven but if you went for a AEG or NEFF ceramic hob I think you will be fine. We have fitted hundreds and never had this problem occur. Hope this helps and you get the problem sorted. Thanks

Answered

4 February 2017