poorly insulated ovens

Tyler, if it heats the entire house, that sounds like not a very good oven. Generally, the oven will heat the entire room, but not the whole house. All other things being equal, if you can find an electric oven with a self clean feature, that will be better insulated than a non self clean electric ( though I wouldn't run the self clean function) and in general, a gas oven will vent to the room more than an electric oven, though not all models.  Some members use countertop ovens, such as the Breville, either on a counter, or in a garage, to try to keep from heating the entire house.  Countertop ovens usually have very little insulation, but since the cavity is much smaller, and the elements put out less heat, they don't heat up the whole room. 

Do the outer surfaces of the oven get hot to the touch?

Maybe contact Tappan and see what they say?

Tyler, my point about the self clean, is that the internal temp gets very hot, so to make it safe, typically there is more insulation so the outside of the oven won't burn someone.

TylerDavis,

If you're in a hot climate, the extra heat from your oven probably just doesn't have anywhere to go, and therefore spreads throughout your house in a noticeable way. Is your house air conditioned? If not, you already have plenty of heat in there, and the extra from the oven is enough to be felt. If your house is air conditioned, perhaps the unit is at its peak load with just the normal ambient heat and can't handle the extra. I have that issue at my house during the summer months. My A/C unit is just a little undersized for the house. Usually it does okay, but on the hottest days, it struggles to keep the house comfortable. Any extra heat generated in the house is just not able to be dealt with.

There is a terminology that applies to situations like this, but the term itself is usually only heard (around here anyway) when talking about audio systems. The term is "head room" and refers to the extra power a system should be designed to have in order to take care of special circumstances. It's never noticed unless it isn't there when it's needed!

I have a self-clean oven that is ca 2010, and it heats the whole kitchen even on cold days. The others are right that self clean ovens have better insulation than ovens without the self-clean feature. In fact, the whole unit is generally made of better quality parts, or at least parts that can stand double the temperature range! The fact remains that the heat still has to dissipate eventually. The insulation doesn't keep it from happening, it just slows it down.