Electric cooker switches

Was the fuse replaceable from the outside like on an FCU?

Yes - very much like lightly large FCU's fuse carrier as I recall. It was from the era when 13A sockets were available, but I guess they went for a 15A version for 'compatibility' (of sorts) with the rest of the house which was all still round-pin.

 

Cooker switches with in-built sockets are still very much mainstream items

Certainly still available - but I still suggest comparatively rarely selected (far less than 50% that would be needed for a 'most' category) - it's literally decades since I've seen a new or refurbished kitchen get one. They seemed to start to fall out of favour under the 16th - in the days of half-RCD protected split boards - if the socket could be used for equipment outdoors (which always seemed likely for a ground floor kitchen) then the cooker circuit would have to be on the RCD side along with all the socket circuits, so risked overloading the typically low rated RCDs of the time. Consumers never seemed to appreciate the engineering and convenience of having a decent amount of wiring space behind them and usually regarded them as big and ugly compared to a simple (usually 1G) DP switch. Now the vast majority of kitchens can have a decent number of general purpose sockets on their own circuit, the need for a cooker unit with a socket is quickly diminishing, and yes I expect them to go the way of clock connectors.


  - Andy.

Was the fuse replaceable from the outside like on an FCU?

Yes - very much like lightly large FCU's fuse carrier as I recall. It was from the era when 13A sockets were available, but I guess they went for a 15A version for 'compatibility' (of sorts) with the rest of the house which was all still round-pin.

 

Cooker switches with in-built sockets are still very much mainstream items

Certainly still available - but I still suggest comparatively rarely selected (far less than 50% that would be needed for a 'most' category) - it's literally decades since I've seen a new or refurbished kitchen get one. They seemed to start to fall out of favour under the 16th - in the days of half-RCD protected split boards - if the socket could be used for equipment outdoors (which always seemed likely for a ground floor kitchen) then the cooker circuit would have to be on the RCD side along with all the socket circuits, so risked overloading the typically low rated RCDs of the time. Consumers never seemed to appreciate the engineering and convenience of having a decent amount of wiring space behind them and usually regarded them as big and ugly compared to a simple (usually 1G) DP switch. Now the vast majority of kitchens can have a decent number of general purpose sockets on their own circuit, the need for a cooker unit with a socket is quickly diminishing, and yes I expect them to go the way of clock connectors.


  - Andy.