If it's modulating as you describe, it's completely imperceptible, unlike any of the other ones I've had to live with in SF bay area apartments.
But I must admit I have not disassembled the thing to understand its workings.
I don't even bother with heavy copper-clad pots and pans anymore, which were necessary before. This thing behaves like a gas stove.
So it's the heating element thermal inertia that differs, to smooth out the temperature?
Edit:
Looking at [0], what you're describing seems to be known as an "infinite switch".
That's not what the old stoves like mine has, this is just a rotary switch with 5 selectable presets. I assume it's changing the resistance.
Worth noting is also the even older Kalgoorlie [1] style stove, which changed the number of heating elements connected to regulate temperature.
This repair guide [2] describes both infinite and rotary switch controls on a high-level:
When the heating element is on, the heater inside the switch is on. The bimetal heats
(along with the element) until the contacts open. Then the bimetal cools (along with
the elements) until the contacts close again.
There are also fixed-temperature switches that vary the voltage going to the heating
elements to maintain fixed, pre-set temperatures. These are usually push-button or
rotary switches with fixed settings such as warm, low, medium and high.
In fixed-temperature switch controls, heat levels are varied by applying different
voltages (110V or 220V) to different coils of different resistances.
As you will see in the schematic of chapter 4 the fixed temp switches vary two voltage combinations (that you get “for free” with split phase power) and two coils to get the limited power levels. But this requires multiple coils per burner as noted. If it’s a single nichrome element per burner then even with fixed detents it may likely use a bimetal switch.
> I assume it's changing the resistance.
This isn’t feasible since you would need a resistor that was as big as the burner and essentially dropped as much heat as a stove element - for instance you would need a dummy load to dump as much waste heat as the burner itself to get a medium setting.
In theory one could use a variac or multitap transformer - but again those would be relatively huge and heavy for the currents involved.
But I must admit I have not disassembled the thing to understand its workings.
I don't even bother with heavy copper-clad pots and pans anymore, which were necessary before. This thing behaves like a gas stove.
So it's the heating element thermal inertia that differs, to smooth out the temperature?
Edit:
Looking at [0], what you're describing seems to be known as an "infinite switch".
That's not what the old stoves like mine has, this is just a rotary switch with 5 selectable presets. I assume it's changing the resistance.
Worth noting is also the even older Kalgoorlie [1] style stove, which changed the number of heating elements connected to regulate temperature.
This repair guide [2] describes both infinite and rotary switch controls on a high-level:
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_switch[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_stove#Kalgoorlie_Stov...
[2] https://www.appliancerepair.net/oven-repair-4.html