Why Doesn’t My Oven Maintain Temperature?

When you start your oven, it goes through a preheat cycle for about roughly ten minutes to bring your oven up to the set temperature. Once reached, the heating elements will turn off and the temperature will naturally drop over time as the oven loses heat. When the temperature gets low enough, the thermometer in your oven will sense it and signal the control board to turn the heating element back on to bring it back up to temperature. However, if you notice that the oven temperature has dropped sufficiently and it is not being brought back up to temperature at all during the cooking process, here is what to check so you can make the right repair.

The Heating Element is Broken

When a heating element is broken, you might expect it to not work when you turn on your oven. Yes, that can sometimes be the case. However, if the heating element is on its way out, it can manifest a few hiccups and not bringing your oven back to temperature can be one of them. If a heating element is going faulty or has a loose connection, then it could work at first during the first heat cycle but will stop later, leading to a lack of proper temperature throughout the cooking process.

You can test this visually to see if it is the heating element at fault, assuming you can see your element and it’s not hidden. If you do not see the elements glowing red when the oven needs to be brought up to temperature, it means they are not working. You will want to find the proper replacement for your model of oven.

The Thermostat is Broken

If you have checked that your heating elements are working properly, it is possible that your electronic control that manages your oven’s temperature isn’t reading a drop in temperature because it is an issue. Unfortunately, there are several ways an oven thermostat can malfunction. The first is that the actual oven setting switch in the control panel has gone faulty. In which case, you can check for proper wire connection and test it with a multimeter.

The second and typically more likely option is that the sensor probe inside the oven tub is faulty. This looks like a short rod jutting out into the tub that measures temperatures. If it is bent or otherwise damaged, then it will not take proper readings and may let the oven temperature fall too far. If it has gone faulty completely, you can test it with a multimeter and easily replace it.

Faulty Electrical Connection

In all honesty, a faulty thermostat or heating element in your oven are the most likely culprits when your oven can’t maintain its temperature. As such, they should be checked first. However, if both have checked out, then there is a chance that it is not maintaining temperature because the oven if not getting the proper electricity to run the heating elements.

You will want to check the plugs and the electrical cord that send power to your oven. If the appliance cannot maintain a consistent connection to electricity, then it will cause the temperature to fluctuate. You may first want to check to make sure the plug is fully connected. If it is loose, it can manifest issues. Next, you will want to try connecting your plug to another socket.

Finally, you may want to test the electrical cord for faults itself. While the cord is meant to last the lifetime of your appliance, it can go faulty, but replacing an electrical cord in your oven is not as complicated as it seems. You just have to find the proper replacement and connect the correctly colored terminals