ᐅ Built-in Oven IKEA Gränslös Temperature Inaccuracy!

Hello Ikea friends,

I have had the IKEA Gränslös oven with pyrolysis for a year now. Since I like baking bread and the oven starts at 30°C (86°F), I thought it would be perfect for proofing dough. However, my bread didn’t rise properly... So I measured the actual temperature, and at the 30°C setting, the oven was producing heat between 50 and 60°C (122 and 140°F).

I then contacted customer service, and they even recorded 72°C (162°F). I believe that if the control says 30°C, the oven should actually be at 30°C. Customer service replaced the probes and sensors, but that made no difference. After consulting with AEG/Electrolux, the manufacturer of the oven, I was told this is completely normal and within usual tolerances.

If I ever get caught speeding by an Ikea car, I’ll argue the same way. The speedometer says 30, but I was driving 72, and that’s within usual tolerances...

Now I’d like to ask other IKEA Gränslös owners in this forum to set their oven to 30°C and check the temperature with a thermometer or similar device, to see if you also have such discrepancies. If needed, I might consider exchanging the oven for a different unit.

Best regards and thanks,

Martin

I guess it would be similar with a different oven...

Oven controls are not particularly high quality and are designed for the frequently used higher temperatures.
With my former Siemens oven, the lower temperature settings were also quite off. When set to 50°C (122°F), the temperature first rose to about 85°C (185°F), then slowly dropped to around 35°C (95°F), before heating back up to 85°C (185°F) again.

The regulation in this lower range is very imprecise. Around 200°C (392°F), it’s different—you can expect temperatures between roughly 180°C and 220°C (356°F and 428°F). This represents a relatively acceptable percentage range of error.

If you have ever adjusted a professional PID (Proportional-Integral-Derivative) oven controller on an oven, this doesn’t come as a big surprise... it is complex, and even with an expensive controller and optimal tuning, the performance is never equally good across the entire temperature range.

Maybe it’s somewhat better in the higher-end segment (e.g., Miele).

I had to check my Siemens oven right away. Where it says 30°C (86°F), it actually is 30°C (86°F) inside.

If the oven isn’t capable of doing that, there shouldn’t even be an option to set that value.

... thanks for the replies...
maybe it does have to be something a bit more expensive after all, although the IKEA one fits perfectly color-wise (beige) with our kitchen.
It seems like they are cutting costs again here...
If Germans think being stingy is “cool,” it’s only because the industry sets that example.
And the industry detests that mentality, but only when it comes to the customer.
By the way, my heating system in the house actually reaches 21° Celsius (70°F) when I set it to 21° Celsius (70°F).
So it works...

The GRÄNSLÖS with pyrolysis is not that cheap either. My oven was from Siemens’ higher-end range at the time, and I didn’t pay any more than that.

I’m familiar with this problem as well. Six years ago, I bought the most expensive oven available at the time (with pyrolytic cleaning) because I wasn’t sure if a third-party appliance would fit. My first baking attempts with the new oven were disappointing: battered fish was undercooked, pizza was still cold inside, even though everything was set the same as on the old oven. It took me a while to realize the issue wasn’t with my technique but with the new oven itself. The actual temperature at a setting of 200°C (392°F) was only about 180°C (356°F), slowly stabilizing at that level. The service technician came with his thermometer and confirmed that the temperature was correct! Then I placed the PT100 sensor of my calibrated digital thermometer next to his sensor (yes, I had the equipment—I was working as a service technician at that time, including for ovens where tolerances were measured in tenths of a degree). The technician, let’s call him that although he was from a different industry, admitted afterwards that he had suspected something was wrong with his thermometer (interesting that his thermometer was apparently matched to that oven or that thermostat series). Two visits later (after a wrong spare part had been delivered in the meantime), a new thermostat was installed but the result was the same—just slightly above 180°C (356°F). After consulting with his supervisor, he told me that his company considered the deviation to be within tolerance and that nothing further would be done. Apparently, I had just bought a cheap appliance. By chance, I’m a chemist, and I think calling a 20-degree difference in reaction temperature acceptable is quite bold, even if not dangerous in this case.

Well, since I now knew how to access the critical component, an effective solution was possible. Before anyone complains: unlike the technician, I also had the equipment to check electrical safety after my work.

So, if you dream of a thermocouple or PT100 sensor with the PID control mentioned above instead of a bimetallic element, you are obviously in the price range covered by IKEA, up to about €500 (around $550) in the wrong place. But in my experience, the dream of an even roughly accurate temperature often remains unfulfilled. I don’t know how things look in the €2000 (approximately $2200) price range, and hardly anyone will put a gas chromatograph costing €5000 (around $5500)—which can measure within 1 degree or better—in their kitchen (in case anyone wonders: the oven cavity is relatively small, and they dissipate a lot of waste heat when cooling).