Electric Cookers

The most important part of your home's kitchen is the cooker, so you will want to compare different models of freestanding electric cookers. If you've opted not to go with built-in units, there are still quite a few various models available to you. And there are advantages as well as disadvantages to every type, depending on how you will use the cooker, and the look you want to create.

As a rule, it's easier to clean built-in ovens, since there isn't a place for liquids and foods to drop down the sides of the cooker. When you use a free standing cooker, you'll just have to keep on top of cleaning a bit more diligently, so that you don't have spills that aren't cleaned up right away.

It's very easy to fit a freestanding cooker into the space where it needs to go. If the gap is already there, all you'll need is the hard wiring. Built-in ovens may require a contractor to install them, depending on how handy you are. They will normally fit into the gap with no extra room on either side. So, the built-ins are usually more expensive to install.

Built-in cookers tend to make your kitchen look a bit more organized, as long as the oven matches the rest of your kitchen. Free standing cookers are not unattractive, but they don't usually look as sleek as a built-in.

Repairs to cookers may be more difficult if you have a built-in unit, since the repair person may have to pull the whole unit out to fix it, and that's not an easy task. Check the back of a built-in oven before you initially have it installed, to make sure there are no faults there. Free standing electric cookers will be much more straight-forward for a repair person to work on, since he or she can get to all the parts without a lot of heavy moving.

You can replace built-in cookers, but it's harder to do than it is to replace a free standing cooker. You'll need to measure the size of the gap in your kitchen, and this information can even be helpful if you're looking at free standing cookers, to make sure you don't buy one that is too big for your gap. With built-ins, you may need to check with your builder or contractor about the sizes you can purchase, but you can eyeball and measure free standing units yourself. You shouldn't need to replace either stove for about ten years or so, and the free standing unit will be cheaper to repair in the interim.

A free standing electric cooker is easy to install, and is a very useful kitchen appliance. You can't plug them into a normal socket, but other than the hard wiring, they don't need to be installed by a contractor. You won't have to build them into the rest of your work tops, and they won't need an engineer to check the gas safety issues. Free standing electric cookers won't take as long to install.