On Tue, 3 Nov 2003, Sam wrote:

> hi folks,
>
> had a question about how temperature is controlled in a gas oven.
> till now i used to think that the dial(marked in degrees celcius)
> regulates the amount of gas that can reach the oven. however i noticed
> that along the insides are are two copper tubes which are closed at
> one end. my guess is that they have something to do with temperature.
> anyone know how this works?

I'm not sure if this is true for all gas ovens but all the ovens I have
used (or installed) there is a thermostat in the oven. It has a
sensitivity range. Let's say it is 5 degrees. If I set the temperature to
350 degrees the gas will turn on until the oven reachs 355 degrees. At
that point the gas will turn off. When the temperature drops to 345
degrees the gas will turn on again.

You'll know this is how your oven works if you just turn it on and listen.
Once the oven is at temperature you will hear the burners turn off (or
reduce notably). If you open the oven door for a few minutes (maybe only
seconds) you will hear the burners kick in again.

Regulating the flow of gas would not work. Impurities in natural gas mean
it does not always burn smoothly. Some gas is cleaner than other. The
purity of your gas supply could alter from day to day. It will definitely
alter from location to location.

Things to note when buying an oven, how well does it hold the heat (better
means less burner on/off) and how sensitive is the thermostat.

--
Send e-mail to: darrell at cs dot toronto dot edu
Don't send e-mail to