Have you noticed that your electric oven isn't getting as hot as you need it to be? Is your food under-cooked even after the full recommended cooking period has elapsed? Does every meal you make 'needs a few more minutes' than expected?

 

If so, the root of the problem may be your oven's thermostat. If your oven thermostat is not reaching the set temperature it may be time to replace it, here's some information so you can work out if that is what is wrong: 

 

 

You can think of the thermostat as the supervisor of your electric oven.

 

On its own, the oven element (i.e. the part of your cooker that actually heats up) doesn't know how hot to get - it just starts heating up when you turn the appliance on. The thermostat's job is to know what temperature you've asked for, measure the heat in the oven, and tell the element to switch off once the required temperature has been reached.

 

Of course, when the element stops heating up, the oven will gradually begin to cool, and so the thermostat is also responsible for recognising when the temperature drops - at which point it will wake up the element again.

 

What can go wrong with the oven thermostat?

 

However, if you're experiencing the issues we mentioned earlier - thermostat not reaching the set temperature, food taking too long to cook - it's likely that your thermostat has a rather different problem. A thermostat that is improperly calibrated may misread the temperature in the oven, deducing that it is warmer (or cooler) than it actually is.

 

Here's how that plays out in practice:

• You set the oven to 220°C.
  
  
• The oven element starts heating up.
  
  
• Before the temperature in the oven reaches 220°C, the faulty thermostat mistakenly gets a 220°C reading and tells the oven element to switch off.
  
  
• Your cooker tells you that it's finished preheating, so you pop your food in...
  
  
• ...only to find at the end of the cooking period that your meal is only half-cooked because the actual temperature in the oven was lower than the temperature you set.

 

If you need to replace your thermostat entirely, you can buy a new one using the following links:

• Electric oven thermostats
• Cooker Spare Parts homepage (enter your manufacturer and model number to search for compatible parts)

If you didn't have a working thermocouple, gas would continue to flow into your oven even if the pilot light went out. This unburned gas would build up, and you would end up with dangerous levels of flammable gas in your home, greatly increasing the risk of a fire or explosion.

You may think there is no way you're capable of working out why your oven isn't working or being able to fix it - but it really isn't as complicated as you think. Here are Cooker Spare Parts we are here to help, so here is a little run down of the important parts of your cooker. We'll inform you of their role in your cooker, what will happen if it becomes faulty and how you can fix the problem. So let's get down to it. 

We start with possibly one of the most important parts of your cooker, the oven element! It's the cooker part that heats up and supplies the heat that will cook your meals. There are two types of oven elements - Fan Oven Elements and Oven Base Elements. A fan oven element is circular in shape and is fitted in front of your oven fan - this will allow the heat to be evenly spread around your oven cavity. An Oven Base Element fits to the bottom of your oven and distributes heat from there - however the hot air isn't as evenly spread as a fan oven element.

If your oven element is faulty, you may find that your oven is struggling to heat up or isn't heating up at all. This of course is a bit of a problem, as your cooker's main role is to produce heat that will enable you to cook your meals. If you're oven element is faulty, we recommend that you take a look at our fantastic selection of replacement oven elements. We're confident they'll have your oven performing better than ever before! 

Every electric cooker needs a thermostat! Without a fully working thermostat your oven's temperature won't be properly regulated. Your oven's thermostat is in charge of informing your oven element to stop heating up once it has reached the temperature you set it to. It also ensures that your oven remains at that temperature. If your oven thermostat or regulators are faulty, you may find that your oven will be overheating or even under heating - causing your food to be incorrectly cooked, and therefore should be replaced as soon as possible.

Here at Cooker Spare Parts we have a huge range of Electric Thermostats and Regulators that will ensure your cooker's temperature is regulated once again.

We sell two types oven fans here at Cooker Spare Parts. The first oven fan we sell is responsible for evenly distributing the hot air in your oven cavity. It is situated behind your fan oven element at the back of your oven cavity. The other oven fan we have to offer is a cooling fan; and you can probably guess its role - your oven cooling fan's job is to prevent your oven from overheating and burning your meals. Both these oven fans are very important components to your cooker, and if they're faulty it's very important to replace them as soon as you can. To view our range of Oven Fans, please click here. 

To view our entire range of replacement parts please click here. If you wish to speak to a member of our customer service team, give them a call on 02920 452 510 or email enquiries@cookerspareparts.com - they'd be more than happy to assist you with any problems you may be having.