- Four faults cause almost every oven that will not heat: a failed element, a faulty thermostat, a tripped thermal cut-out, or a control fault.
- Check the circuit breaker, the switch behind the oven, and the timer before you ring anyone. An oven set to auto will not heat.
- A failed element is the most common cause and is usually fixed on the first visit, because the part is in the service van.
- Do not remove a panel. Everything you can safely check is on the outside of the oven.
- Most ovens with one fault are worth repairing. We will tell you at the appliance if yours is not.
An oven not heating up is one of the most common calls we get on the Central Coast. It turns on, the light comes on, the fan runs, and nothing gets hot. The good news is that most of the causes are ordinary wear parts, and most of them are worth fixing.
Here is what is usually behind it, what you can safely check yourself, and the point where it stops being a job for the homeowner.
Why is my oven not heating up?
Almost always one of four faults, ranked here by how often they turn up on the job.
- A failed element. The most common cause by a wide margin.
- A faulty thermostat. The oven heats, but never to the temperature you set.
- A tripped thermal cut-out. Usually a symptom of something else rather than the fault itself.
- A control or timer fault. Less common, and harder to self-diagnose.
There is a fifth cause that is not the oven at all: a tripped circuit or a failed connection behind it. That one matters, because it is the case where a general appliance repairer has to hand the job over and you end up paying for two callouts.
| Symptom | Likely fault | Fixed on the first visit? | Worth repairing? |
|---|---|---|---|
| No heat at all, light and fan work | Element | Usually | Almost always |
| Heats, never reaches temperature | Thermostat | Usually | Almost always |
| Heats then cuts out mid-cook | Thermal cut-out | Sometimes | Depends on the cause behind it |
| Display dead, nothing responds | Control board | Rarely | Depends on the oven |
| Oven dead, cooktop still works | Circuit or connection | Usually | Yes, and it is not the oven |
Oven not heating up? Check these three things first
Three checks, none of which involve opening anything. Between them they account for a fair share of the calls we take.
- The circuit breaker, and the switch behind or beside the oven. A switch knocked during cleaning is a genuinely common cause.
- The timer or clock. An oven set to auto will not heat. This is the most common false alarm there is, and it costs nothing to rule out.
- Whether the light and fan still work. If they do, the oven has power and the fault is inside the appliance. That narrows things considerably before a technician arrives.
Stop there. Nothing on that list involves removing a panel. An electric oven is hardwired, and the connections behind it carry mains voltage. If those three checks do not solve it, that is the point to make the call.
A failed element, the most common cause
An element is a resistance coil that heats when current passes through it. Elements fail from thermal cycling over years rather than from anything you did, which is worth knowing if you are wondering whether you caused it. You did not.
Sometimes there is visible blistering, or a clean break in the coil. Often there is no visible sign at all, and it takes a meter to confirm.
The most useful thing you can observe yourself: if the top element works and the bottom does not, or the other way round, that is close to a diagnosis on its own. An oven with a fan-forced element that has failed will often still grill perfectly well.
An element is one of the parts carried in the service van, so this repair usually finishes the day we arrive rather than a week later when a part turns up.
When it’s the thermostat
The pattern here is different. The oven heats, but it never gets where it is meant to, or it overshoots, or it cuts out part way through a cook. Baking is where people notice it first, because a cake is far less forgiving of a wrong temperature than a tray of chips.
An oven thermometer is the simplest check you can run before booking anyone. Set the oven to 180, give it twenty minutes to stabilise, and see what the thermometer actually reads.
CHOICE has a practical guide to spotting an oven that is cooking unevenly, which is worth a read if you are not sure whether the problem is the oven or the recipe. Some ovens can be recalibrated. Where the thermostat itself has failed, it is a replaceable part and an ordinary repair.
When it’s the thermal cut-out
A thermal cut-out is a safety device. It exists to kill power to the element if the oven gets hotter than it should, and once it trips, many types do not reset themselves.
The important thing is that a cut-out is almost never the original fault. Something made the oven overheat: a cooling fan that has stopped, a blocked vent, or a thermostat stuck in the closed position and still calling for heat.
Replacing the cut-out alone will get the oven going again for a while, and then it will trip again. That is why we test for the cause rather than the symptom, and it is worth knowing if you are comparing quotes.
Gas ovens and stoves: what we repair
We repair gas ovens, stoves and cooktops: ignition, elements, thermostats, controls and electrical faults, which is what causes most gas stove breakdowns.
That surprises people, and it is the useful thing to know here. A gas cooktop that will not light is usually an electrical fault, not a gas one. The ignition, the thermostat and the controls are all electrical, and so is most of what fails on a modern gas appliance.
Your technician is a licensed electrician, which is exactly the qualification that work needs.
What does an oven repair involve?
We diagnose the fault at the oven, tell you what the repair will cost before anything is done, and fix it on the spot where the part is on board. Ring us and you’ll know where you stand before you hang up.
Every repair is backed by our 12 month warranty on parts and labour, so if the same fault comes back, so do we. That sits on top of your rights under Australian Consumer Law, not in place of them.
Your technician is a licensed electrician, NSW electrical licence 337447C, and an appliance repairer. That matters more than it sounds on this fault. When an oven stops heating it is often unclear whether the problem is the appliance or the circuit feeding it, and with us it does not matter which it turns out to be. You are not paying two callouts to find out.
See oven repairs for everything we cover, or brands we repair if you want to check yours is on the list.
Is it worth repairing, or is it time for a new oven?
Usually it is worth repairing. Elements, thermostats, cut-outs, hinges and seals are ordinary wear parts, and an oven with one fault has plenty of life left in it.
The answer changes in three situations: a control board failure on a cheap oven, where the board approaches what the oven is worth; a second fault turning up alongside the first; or an oven already near the end of its life. Premium brands shift the maths again, because Miele ovens and Bosch ovens are built to be serviced and the parts are available for far longer.
If it is not worth fixing, we will say so before you spend another dollar on it. There is a fuller breakdown on repair or replace if you want the numbers behind that decision.
Common questions
Is it worth trying to repair an oven?
Usually, yes. Elements, thermostats and hinges are ordinary parts, and an oven with a single fault at eight or ten years old is normally worth fixing rather than replacing. It changes when a control board fails on a cheap oven, or when a second fault turns up alongside the first. We will give you a straight answer at the appliance, including when that answer costs us the job.
How much does it cost to get someone to fix an oven?
A repair is the part, the labour, and a service call fee. We tell you what the service call fee is when you ring, before anyone comes out, and the repair itself is quoted at the oven before any work starts. There are no hidden extras and no surprise at the door.
Can I replace an oven element myself?
Not in New South Wales. A built-in electric oven is hardwired, and disconnecting or reconnecting fixed electrical equipment requires the right electrical credential. That is a licensing position rather than a sales one. A plug-in benchtop oven is a different case.
Do you repair gas ovens and stoves?
Yes. We repair the electrical side of gas cooking appliances: ignition, elements, thermostats, controls and wiring, which is what most gas stove breakdowns turn out to be. If the fault turns out to be with the gas supply itself, we will tell you on the spot and point you to a licensed gasfitter.