What to Do If Your Oven Is Not Heating Up

How to diagnose your appliance without disassembling it

Nothing can be as important for a holiday family meetings as having a properly working oven before Thanksgiving, the Independence Day and Christmas! Of course, it is important to conduct proper maintenance on your appliance or even try to cook something in advance in case you have not used your oven for too long!

Does your oven light up and start heating up, but never reaches the required temperature? There may be several issues with your appliance. It may be an issue with the heating element or burner, with the thermostat, thermal probe or even a fault within the control board. Of course, a problem like this requires profound diagnostic.

Gas Flow is Obstructed

Visually examine the burners if you have a gas oven. Sometimes the gas flow may be obstructed by the food residue, or by the incorrect placement of the food trays. In rare cases, the flow of the gas might be obstructed within the oven itself, for example, if you have a broken knob. Turn on the oven and check the flames – they should be spread evenly and have nearly the same size.

Heating Element can break or wear

An electric oven normally has several heating elements located at the sides, at the bottom and at the top of the chamber. In case your oven does not bake the food evenly, the problem can be often caused by particular heating elements. Turn on your appliance and wait for the elements to heat up. Visually examine the elements and check if they are glowing. If the elements not fully glowing or one particular element is not glowing at all, the problem is likely caused by a broken heating element.

Faults with Thermostat and Temperature Probe

The thermostat is a part of your oven that controls the internal temperature within the chamber. Sometimes a faulty thermostat may prevent the oven from reaching the desired temperature. As a result, it will take longer to cook the food.

Make sure the probe is not touching the inside wall. Sometimes a simple reposition of the probe can fix the problem! In case your probe shows obvious signs of damage, it is advised to substitute it with a newer part.

Control Board

The oven control board employs a complex system of relays that control heating elements of the oven based on the user input. It means that a fault within the control board may result in the heating components not working efficiently or not receiving enough voltage in order to heat up.

It is worth keeping in mind that control board replacement is more expensive than replacing other components. You will have to disassemble your oven in order to check the control board. Examine the board for the signs of burns and physical damage. Test the contacts with the multimeter. It is recommended to replace the whole control board in case you find out one or more components are not working properly.

Finally, the last but not the least – your oven may have difficulties with heating up food if it is too cluttered! Make sure there is no foil inside the oven and no food residue on the walls and the heating elements. Remember that the airflow within your oven shouldn’t be obstructed. Also, keep in mind that the door of the baking oven should be always firmly shut. The hot air escapes the chamber each time you open the oven, which means that your appliance has to work extra hard in order to reheat the air.