It seems Norway is leading the way with this type of equipment and there are various products available.

Norway has a building code standard from 1 July 2011 shut-off devices are required in new electric stove installations (Norwegian standard NEK 400:2010 Electrical low voltage installations. Part 400-8-823 residential buildings).

Interesting. I see they do not consider normal fire/smoke alarms sensitive enough.

round here they seem to be too sensitive but hey-ho.

translating from here

"823.421 Protection against fire caused by electrical equipment

823.421.01 Cooker/hob To reduce the risk of fire when using the hob (as an independent unit or as an integrated in a stove) protective measures must be arranged in the fixed installation, which ensure disconnecting the power supply to the hob if danger arises when using the hob for overheating. The protective equipment must be permanently mounted.

GUIDELINE 1 – The protective measure can be arranged, for example, by installing a separate over-temperature monitoring equipment (for example, directly above the cooker/hob) which causes the equipment to be switched off and indicates this with a sound and light signal. Ordinary fire detectors/smoke alarms in the ceiling will not normally work quickly enough.

GUIDELINE 2 – A time switch is not to be considered a device that protects against overheating. The protective equipment must be of class B or class AB in accordance with NEK EN 50615.

GUIDELINE 3 - The purpose of the requirement in section 823.421.01 is to prevent a fire occurring due to use of one cooker/hob. The intention is that the protective measure should be effective in every situation and use hob/stove, and an important element of this lies in the fact that it is not possible either accidentally or in a simple way to disable the measure. The following points show how the intentions of the requirement in 823.421.01 are taken care of that the protective measure: is part of the permanent electrical installation, cannot be taken out of operation without intervention in the electrical installation, actively monitors the temperature progress of what is being cooked on the hob and prevents overheating where possible entail a risk of fire,  disconnects the power to the hob when danger occurs, and indicates disconnection with a sound and light signal, gives, if the sensor has a battery, a signal for a period when the battery needs to be replaced,  if the battery is empty or not installed, switch off the power supply to the stove, and can be manually overridden in an emergency, for example in the event of a sensor failure or similar."

It would be interesting to know  if their kitchen fire accident rate has fallen much since this got added.

Mike

Maybe they are more stringent due to the amount of dwellings primarily constructed from wood.  The guidelines would certainly be appropriate in student living quarters as would it be for older/vunerable people. It sounds like our Norwegian cousins have some sound engineering judgement.

Maybe they are more stringent due to the amount of dwellings primarily constructed from wood.  The guidelines would certainly be appropriate in student living quarters as would it be for older/vunerable people. It sounds like our Norwegian cousins have some sound engineering judgement.