If your electric stove is not getting hot enough, there is likely to be something wrong with one or more of the components within your appliance. For example, there could be an electrical short in the burner, or the surface element switch could be defective. To help you find the cause of the problem and fix it, we’ve put together this extensive guide.
While different makes and models of stoves are manufactured slightly differently, this guide should be useful for all major models of stoves such as GE, Bosch, Whirlpool, and Samsung.
Some stoves have plug-in burners which can get a build-up of moisture and other debris in the receptacles. When this happens, arcing can occur which over time creates an intermittent electrical short that will cause the element to burn out. If your stove doesn’t have plug-in burners, you can proceed to step 2.
Here’s how to clean the burners:
The next step is to check the circuit breaker. Sometimes after a power surge, or if the circuit breaker is under stress, it can trip which will turn your electric stove off. This is a very simple problem to fix yourself without the need to call a technician. Please note, it is recommended that appliances like ovens, fridges, and dryers should have a dedicated circuit breaker due to how much energy they consume. If you don’t have a dedicated circuit breaker for your oven you should get your electrician to create one for you.
Here’s how to check the circuit breaker:
If you have an older stove with manual knobs that control the temperature of the stove, make sure they are on correctly. Sometimes when people clean their stoves they take the knobs off and then put them back on in the wrong position. If you have electrical controls on your stove, proceed to step 4.
Here’s how to check the stove knobs:
The next step is to check all of the wires in your stove to make sure none of them have burnt out or become loose.
Here’s how to check for loose or burnt wires:
The surface element switch turns off the voltage coming from the heating element when your stove has reached the correct temperature as well as turning the voltage back when required. If the switch becomes defective, your electric stove might not get hot enough.
Here’s how to check the surface element switch:
If you still haven’t found the cause of your stove not heating, the final step is to replace the heating elements and see if this fixes the problem. If you cannot replace individual elements, the whole stove unit might need to be replaced. Before replacing the elements, get a technician to come and inspect your electric oven so they can rule out other potential fixes.
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