Standard Wiring for an Electric Range

Wiring Run

• If you don’t have a 240-volt electrical connection in place for your electric stove, you will have to run wiring from your main electrical panel to the spot where the stove is located. The circuit that serves your electric stove shouldn’t have any lights or other appliances on it, and the cable that runs between the service panel and stove should be less than 30 feet. To handle the heavy load, the stove circuit requires a double-pole circuit breaker rated for at least 50 amps.

Cable Requirements

• The wire for your stove must be a four-wire cable with #6 gauge conductors. The cable will have red and black “hot” wires that carry current from the service panel to the stove, a white “neutral” wire for completing the circuit by carrying current back to the service panel and a green or bare "ground" wire to protect users from shocks in case an electrical fault in the stove allows electricity to escape from its path. You may be able to run the wiring and install the outlet connection box yourself, but the connections into the service panel and to the stove’s electrical outlet should be done by a licensed electrician.

Plug Requirements

• If your stove is not within sight of an electrical disconnect panel, it will require an electrical outlet and plug for disconnection. Current electrical codes require a four-prong plug and matching outlet. This plug has three flat blades, two for the hot wires, one for the neutral side and a round prong for the ground. If your stove doesn’t come equipped with a power cord, you will have to install one yourself. Four-prong stove cords are available from hardware and home centers. To start, look at the stove’s back panel near the bottom for a removable cover panel that typically will have wiring hookup instructions on it. Remove the panel to expose the wiring terminals in the connection box.

Cord Installation

• The connection box will have three screws in a row plus a green screw below the middle screw in the row. The two outside screws are for the black and red wires, the middle screw for the white wire and the green screw for the ground wire. If the middle neutral screw and the green ground screw are connected by a metal strip, remove the strip. Pass the cord through a strain relief device that protects the cord from damage by the stove’s sharp sheet metal. Attach the red wire to one of the outside screws, the ground wire to the green screw, the white wire to the middle screw and the black wire to the other outside screw. Tighten the screws, replace the cover panel then plug your stove into the outlet.