What size wire for an electric stove or cooking range in Pakistan?

PILONE CABLES TECHNICAL TEAM

4 mm² copper (7/.036) on its own 20 A MCB for a 3000 W stove, the same 4 mm² on a 25 A MCB at 4000 W, and 6 mm² (7/.044) on a 32 A MCB at 6000 W.

Size this one off the rating plate, not off the appliance name. An electric stove's plate figure is the sum of every hotplate and the oven together: 3000 ÷ 220 = 13.6 A, 6000 ÷ 220 = 27.3 A. A cooking range is also the one fixed load that lives in the hottest room in the house, so the derated capacity — not the table figure — is what has to clear the breaker.

Read the plate, then read the row

An electric cooking stove in Pakistan takes 4 mm² copper on a dedicated 20 A MCB where the plate says 3000 W, 4 mm² on a 25 A MCB at 4000 W, and 6 mm² on a 32 A MCB at 6000 W, always 3 core so the earth matches the live and neutral. Below 2000 W a single hotplate is a plug-in appliance and belongs on the kitchen socket circuit, which is 2.5 mm² on a 16 A MCB. The dividing line is not the size of the stove; it is whether the plate rating stays under 10 A.

Cooking appliance on a 220 V single-phase supply, sized on the total plate rating with every element counted. Current capacity per BS 7671, reference method C (clipped direct), 30°C ambient, two loaded conductors; conductor and stranding data per IEC 60228. Derate for conduit, grouping and kitchen ambient above 30°C. Verify sizing and breaker rating with a licensed electrician for your installation.
Appliance	Plate rating	Current at 220 V	Cable	MCB	Own way?
Single hotplate	1500–2000 W	6.8–9.1 A	2.5 mm² (7/.029)	16 A	No — kitchen socket circuit
Double hotplate or small cooker	3000 W	13.6 A	4 mm² (7/.036)	20 A	Yes
Cooking range, hobs and oven	4000 W	18.2 A	4 mm² (7/.036)	25 A	Yes
Large range or double oven	6000 W	27.3 A	6 mm² (7/.044)	32 A	Yes

A built-in oven on its own circuit is the same arithmetic on a smaller number — the oven cable size guide works it through. Everything else on the counter, from the kettle to the microwave, stays on the kitchen socket circuit covered in the kitchen wiring guide.

Where 2.5mm runs out: a 4000 W range, 14 metres from the board

A 4000 W range draws 4000 ÷ 220 = 18.2 A. Both 2.5 mm² and 4 mm² carry that on paper — 27 A and 36 A clipped direct at 30°C. Two corrections separate them. First, length: over a 14 m run 2.5 mm² loses 18 × 18.2 × 14 ÷ 1000 = 4.59 V, while 4 mm² loses 11 × 18.2 × 14 ÷ 1000 = 2.80 V. Hold the installation to 3% of 220 V — 6.6 V — and give this final circuit half of it, 3.3 V, because the submain has already spent the rest. 2.5 mm² is outside that budget; 4 mm² is inside it.

Second, heat. A kitchen ceiling in June is nowhere near the 30°C the table assumes, and the cable is usually in conduit as well. Suppose the correction factors for your method and ambient multiply out to 0.75: 2.5 mm² becomes 27 × 0.75 = 20.3 A, below the 25 A breaker protecting it, while 4 mm² becomes 36 × 0.75 = 27 A and still sits above it. Take the exact factors for your own method from BS 7671; the point is that the derated figure, never the table figure, is what the breaker has to sit under.

Size on the plate rating with every element counted, not on how many rings you expect to use at once.
Take a dedicated way from the distribution board and terminate at a cooker connection unit or an isolator you can reach without moving the range.
Run 3 core, so the earth is the same size as the live — a steel range body is exposed metal.
Check the main switch and the incoming submain before adding a cooking circuit. On most kitchens that, not the stove cable, is the real limit.

Current capacity depends on how the cable is installed. Derate for conduit, grouping, and ambient temperature above 30°C, and take the correction factors for your own method from BS 7671. Have a licensed electrician confirm both the cable size and the breaker rating against your stove's rating plate — or start with the cable size calculator.

The cable for this job

Three-core standard cable with PVC outer sheath cut back to show insulated stranded copper conductors

4MM² · 3 CORE · 450/750 V · CU CLASS 2

4mm 3 Core Standard Cable

Class 2 stranded copper, 7/0.85, PVC insulated and sheathed, 450/750 V, drawn on the Pilone line in Lahore. Rated 36 A clipped direct at 30°C.

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Cable tracks the daily copper rate, so we quote per metre and per coil on WhatsApp. Send the length and your city.

For a 6000 W range take 6mm 3 core standard cable, or the single-core 6mm 7/.044 copper wire where the run is pulled through conduit core by core.

Frequently asked

Electric stove ke liye kitne mm ka wire chahiye?

3000 W ke stove ke liye 4 mm² copper — dukaan par 7/.036 — apne alag 20 A MCB par, aur 3-core taake earth sath chale. 4000 W par wohi 4 mm² magar 25 A MCB, aur 6000 W par 6 mm² (7/.044) 32 A MCB ke sath. Pehle stove ki plate par likha total wattage dekhen.

Is 2.5mm wire enough for an electric stove?

Only for a plug-in hotplate under about 2000 W on the kitchen socket circuit. For a 4000 W range at 18.2 A it fails twice over: it loses 4.59 V over a 14 m run against a 3.3 V budget, and derated for conduit and kitchen heat its 27 A falls to roughly 20 A, below the 25 A breaker protecting it.

What MCB size goes with an electric cooking range?

20 A at 3000 W, 25 A at 4000 W and 32 A at 6000 W, each on a dedicated way from the distribution board. The rule behind those numbers is that the breaker sits above the appliance's plate current and below the cable's derated capacity, which is why the breaker and the cable size move together.

Does an electric oven need the same cable as the stove?

Not the same cable, but the same method. A built-in oven is commonly 2000–3500 W, which is 9.1–15.9 A, and it takes 4 mm² on its own 20 A way rather than sharing the range's circuit. Where a hob and an oven do share one way, size on the two plate ratings added together. See the oven cable size guide.

4mm and 6mm cable for the cooking circuit, at the factory rate

We draw the copper in Lahore and sell it at the day's rate — no dealer margin. Tell us the metres and your city: Punjab in 1–2 days, rest of Pakistan in 2–4.

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