If a tray of cookies comes out golden on one side and pale on the other, or your oven never quite seems to match the number on the dial, something in the heating or airflow system has quietly drifted out of tune.
A Drifting Temperature Sensor Is the Usual Cause
A thin probe mounted inside the cavity constantly reports the internal temperature to the control board. After years of heating and cooling cycles, that reading can drift by ten or fifteen degrees without ever tripping a fault indicator — you’d just notice baked goods coming out a little underdone or a little scorched, depending on the day.
Confirm It Yourself First
Set an independent oven thermometer on the center rack, run a normal preheat, and compare what it reads against the dial once the temperature settles. A consistent gap across more than one bake points to the sensor rather than a fluke with a particular recipe.
Fan-Forced Ovens Have a Second Suspect
On a fan-forced setting, a bakeware pan pushed too close to the rear vent, or a fan running slower than it should, creates pockets of uneven heat that mimic a sensor fault while having nothing to do with it.
Don’t Rule Out the Door Seal
A gasket that’s gone flat in one section lets heat leak out steadily during baking, forcing the element to work harder to hold temperature — and unevenly, since the heat loss isn’t spread around the door evenly.
Getting It Fixed
Sensor and gasket replacement are both routine repairs. Visit our Fisher & Paykel oven repair page to book a diagnostic.