When an oven gives up, it's usually in one of a handful of ways. It stays cold. It heats, but so slowly that dinner is an hour late. The bake side quits while the broiler still works. Or the door locks after a self-clean cycle and won't let go. Each one has a short list of causes, and the list depends on whether you cook with gas or electricity.
Figure out which you have before anything else. Some kitchens have a gas cooktop with an electric oven (a dual-fuel range), so look for a gas line and shutoff valve behind or beside the unit, not just at the burners on top.
Gas safety, first and without exceptions
If you smell gas, or rotten eggs, near the range:
- •Don't turn on or off any lights or appliances, and don't use a phone inside.
- •Leave the house with everyone in it, and leave the door open.
- •Once you're outside, call 911 and Washington Gas's emergency leak line, 844-WASHGAS.
- •Don't return until responders say it's safe.
Don't try to find the leak yourself. Every other check in this article assumes there's no gas smell.
Two more rules. Unplug the range, or turn off its breaker, before removing any panel. And a gas range should have a working carbon monoxide alarm somewhere nearby in the house; if yours doesn't, that's worth fixing regardless of the oven.
Before you blame a part
Rule out these first:
- •Clock and timer settings. A delayed bake, a Sabbath mode or a control lock can make an oven look dead. Many ranges show a small lock icon; check the manual for how to clear it.
- •Power. Ranges use a double breaker. Turn it fully off and back on. An electric oven with a tripped half may show a lit display and still not heat. A gas oven needs electricity too, for its igniter and controls.
- •A recent power outage. After a summer storm or a flicker, some electronic controls need the power cut for a minute to reset. Flip the breaker off, wait, and turn it back on.
- •The gas supply. On a gas range, if the cooktop burners don't light either, the problem may be the supply valve rather than the oven.
Gas ovens
In most modern gas ovens the burner is lit by a hot-surface igniter, often called a glow bar, rather than a standing pilot. The igniter heats up, and as it draws current it lets the safety valve open. Gas flows, touches the red-hot igniter and lights.
The igniter weakens with age. It still glows, yet the current through it stays too low for the valve to open, so the oven sits there glowing without lighting. That's one of the most common gas oven failures.
What to watch for with the oven set to bake:
- •Igniter glows, burner never lights. Usually a weak igniter. Less often, the safety valve.
- •Igniter doesn't glow at all. The igniter may be broken, or the control isn't sending power. A thermal fuse or wiring fault is possible too.
- •Long delay before lighting, with a whoomp when it does. Also a weak igniter. The late ignition can be startling and shouldn't be ignored.
- •Bake doesn't light, broil does. Most gas ranges have separate igniters for each, so the bake igniter is the likely suspect.
Leave the gas valve, burner and fittings to a technician. Igniter replacement involves the gas supply and should be done by someone who can check the connections afterward.
During a power outage
Most gas ovens with glow-bar igniters and electronic controls won't work when the power is out, and you shouldn't try to light the oven burner with a match. Some cooktops allow the surface burners to be lit by hand in an outage. Check your manual before trying, and if it doesn't say so, don't.
Electric ovens
Electric ovens heat with two main elements: bake, along the bottom and sometimes concealed beneath a smooth floor panel, and broil, across the ceiling. Some also have a third element behind the convection fan.
With the oven off and cool, look at the elements. A failed element often shows a blister, a split, or a spot that looks burned through. If the bake element is hidden, the oven usually still heats slowly on broil only, and cakes come out pale on the bottom.
Signs worth reporting when you book:
- •Broil heats, bake doesn't. Bake element or its connection.
- •Neither heats, display is on. Power supply (that half-tripped breaker), a thermal fuse, the control's relays, or wiring.
- •Convection fan doesn't turn, or oven heats unevenly on convection. The fan motor or the convection element.
Heats, but not to the right temperature
A slow or inaccurate oven can be the temperature sensor, a probe on the back wall inside the oven. Sensors drift over time. Before calling, put an oven thermometer in the middle of the oven, set it to 350°F, and let it cycle for twenty minutes or more, reading it several times. Ovens swing above and below the setting as they cycle, so look at the average. Many models let you adjust the calibration by a few degrees from the control panel, and your manual explains how. If the error is large, keeps changing, or the oven overshoots badly, the sensor or the control needs testing.
Locked after self-clean
Self-clean runs the oven very hot, and afterward the door stays locked until it cools. That's normal. If it's still locked long after it's cool, try cutting the power at the breaker for a minute or two to reset the control. If it stays locked, the lock motor or its switch has failed, or the high heat has taken out a thermal fuse or damaged the control. Self-clean is hard on ovens. If yours has failed after one before, consider cleaning it by hand in future.
When to call us
Book a visit when a gas oven won't light, an electric element has failed, the temperature won't hold after you've checked calibration, or the door stays locked. A technician will test the igniter, elements, sensor, valve and control, and give you the diagnosis and the repair cost for your go-ahead. We service gas, electric and dual-fuel ranges and wall ovens, including the built-in units in larger kitchens.
More is on our oven repair page, and range repair covers the full unit. Call or book online.