Oven Not Heating
When it comes to cooking and baking your favourite dishes in the kitchen, your oven is an essential part of the recipe. However, what happens when you turn on your oven, and it’s not heating up?
If you have an oven that isn’t heating up, you might be motivated to conduct the stove repair yourself. However, before you start inspecting your oven, we’re here to help you find the problem by examining its specific parts.
Ovens that don’t heat up properly is a common electrical issue that occurs from time to time. In most cases, when an oven doesn’t work, it’s a sign that there’s a defective part. Finding the correct spot of your stove that needs replacement is challenging. Therefore, let’s take a look at 5 common reasons your oven isn’t heating.
How to Tell if Your Oven is Heating Completely
Before examining your oven for heating problems, put safety first! Whenever you are looking at electrical wires, make sure you unplug the oven. Always put your safety first before attempting stove repair on your own.
When in doubt, it’s best to call a professional stove repair service. First, how can you tell if your electric oven is heating at the correct temperature? You need to get a basic temperature gauge and place it in the oven. Then, set the oven to 350 degrees. Give it about 10 minutes to heat up. After it heats up, see if your oven is at the same temperature as the temperature gauge. If both are showing different numbers, then it means your oven isn’t working properly. Let’s examine the 5 possible reasons why this could be happening.
1. Defective heating elements
When an oven doesn’t heat, the problem is usually a defective heating element. An electric oven has two heating elements: one at the top and one at the bottom. You can check both heating elements by turning on the oven and setting it to “preheat” or “prebake.”
When both are functioning properly, you should see both of them turn bright red. If one or both heating elements do not turn red, then it needs to be replaced. If you replace the defective element and your oven is still not heating, then the problem is electrical.
Here are the steps to replace a defective heating element:
- Make sure to unplug the oven from the electrical socket and turn off the breaker.
- Remove the screws that secure the heating element to the back of the oven.
- Remove the old heating elements.
- Replace the old elements with the new heating elements to the electrical connectors (if available).
- Tighten the newly replaced heating element to the back of the oven.
- Plug the oven to the electrical socket and turn on the breaker.
- Turn on the oven and set to “bake” mode. Test the heat; if it heats up, your job is done.
2. Defective or broken temperature sensor
The majority of electric ovens are built with a temperature sensor that monitors the inside oven temperature when operated. If the sensor breaks or becomes defective, the oven won’t heat up.
If your oven has a digital display, check the oven elements and wires before replacing the sensor. If your oven contains a temperature-sensing bulb, check it to see that it hasn’t burnt out. If the bulb is burnt out, replace it with a new one (these are inexpensive). If it’s loose, then secure it tightly.
Related article: How to Repair an Oven Not Heating Up
3. Dead thermostat or selector switch
If no heat is being produced from the oven, it might be that the thermostat or selector switch is dead. The thermostat runs the oven’s temperature and is similar to the thermostat in your house. If it’s dead, then it won’t heat the oven.
For a broken selector switch, you should consult the owner’s manual to locate it. If you don’t have the owner’s manual in print, Google the manufacturer and model of your oven—they should have it available online. Once you have located the selector switch, replace it by pulling off the knob and then loosen the selector switch under it.
To find the correct replacement selector switch, note your oven’s model number and search online. There, you can likely find a new replacement for the thermostat and selector switch.
4. Improper oven calibration
If your oven is heating up a bit, but not at the correct temperature, it might have been improperly calibrated. Check for the calibration dial on the back of the temperature knob or at the bottom of the shaft. However, if you can’t find it, refer to your owner’s manual to locate the calibration dial on your oven.
Once you have located the calibration dial, adjust the screw on the dial. To boost the temperature of the oven, turn the screw clockwise. To turn down the temperature, turn the screw counterclockwise. By turning it halfway, it should decrease the temperature by 25 degrees. You may have to turn it clockwise and counterclockwise a few times to calibrate it properly.
5. Bad heating relays
Another issue that can cause your oven not to heat up properly is bad heating relays. If your oven has two heating elements, it will simultaneously have two heating element relays. Depending on how much you use your oven and how old it is, the heating relays can burn out after some time.
Replacing the heating relays might be a task that is tricky to complete. Refer to the owner’s manual for instructions. However, if you don’t understand what exactly needs to be replaced, it might be time to contact a stove repair service for help.
Now that you know the 5 common reasons your oven isn’t heating up, you should be able to troubleshoot and fix it. However, if you have checked all these issues and your oven is still not heating properly, then it’s time for one of our professional technicians to take a look and perform one of our appliance repair services.
To get an expert diagnosis on stove repair in Toronto and the GTA, call Prime Appliance Repairs at 647-952-1517 or contact us here.
