Oven and range repair - gas and electric are different trades

What is oven and range repair?

Most oven and range faults sort into three tiers. Cheap and clearly worth doing: a burnt-out bake or broil element, a weak gas oven igniter, a failed surface igniter, a bad oven temperature sensor. Free, because it is not a fault: an oven that reads accurately but bakes cold, which is a calibration adjustment. Where it turns: main control boards, touch panels, and cracked glass or induction cooktops, where a single part can approach the value of the whole appliance.

Signs you need oven and range repair

• The oven takes an age to reach temperature, or never quite gets there
• A gas oven clicks or glows for several minutes before the burner finally lights, or does not light at all
• Baking comes out consistently pale and underdone at the recipe time, even though the display says it is up to temperature
• A gas surface burner clicks continuously after it has lit, or will not light while its neighbours do
• The glass or induction cooktop surface has a crack, chip or star mark in it
• The display is dead, frozen, showing an error code, or the touch panel ignores you

Seeing something not on this list? Browse appliance repair problems by symptom →

How oven and range repair actually works

1. 1

   Establishing what fuel and what configuration you actually have

   The trade splits here. A gas range, a dual-fuel range, an all-electric range, a wall oven with a separate cooktop, and an induction top all fail differently and need different qualifications. A technician confirms the configuration before diagnosing anything, because gas-side work is licensed and not every appliance company does it.

   Watch forBooking a generic appliance visit for a gas fault and discovering on the day that the technician cannot touch the gas train. Say which fuel you have when you book.

2. 2

   Electric oven heat - the elements and their supply

   An electric oven heats with a bake element at the bottom and a broil element at the top. A failed bake element often shows visible blistering or a break, and it is one of the most straightforward replacements in the appliance world. Where nothing heats at all, the supply is checked first - a 240-volt circuit can lose one leg and leave the clock and lights working perfectly.

   Watch forA dead oven with a live display being quoted a control board. Check the breaker and the supply legs before buying the most expensive part in the machine.

3. 3

   Gas oven ignition, and gas surface burners

   A gas oven lights through a glow-bar igniter that must draw enough current to open the safety valve. As igniters age they glow but weaken, so the oven takes longer to light and eventually never does - the classic slow-decline gas fault, and an affordable part. Surface burners are simpler: a spark module, a fouled electrode, and caps that must sit correctly.

   Watch forA gas valve quoted when the igniter has not been current-tested. A visibly glowing igniter can still be too weak to open the valve, which is why "it lights up so it must be fine" is wrong.

4. 4

   The oven that runs cold - calibration, not repair

   A great many "my oven is broken" calls are an oven whose cavity temperature no longer matches its setpoint. Nearly every modern oven has a user calibration offset in its settings, and the oven sensor can be tested for resistance drift. An oven that heats steadily but bakes wrong is normally one of those two.

   Watch forA thermostat or board replaced for a temperature complaint that was never measured with an independent thermometer in the cavity. Measure first, buy parts second.

5. 5

   Boards, touch panels and cooktop glass - where it stops paying

   Control boards, relay boards and touch membranes are the priciest components in a range, and on cooktops the glass is both a structural part and an expensive one. A cracked ceramic or induction top is not repairable, and a replacement panel plus labour is where technicians most often tell people to stop spending.

   Watch forA cracked cooktop still being used. A crack lets spills into the electrics beneath and, on a gas-over-glass top, it will spread. Stop using that zone and get advice rather than working around it.

What does oven and range repair cost?

Bake elements, oven igniters, sensors and spark modules are inexpensive parts and normally an easy yes. Control boards, touch panels and replacement cooktop glass sit at the opposite end and can approach the value of the appliance. Ask whether the diagnostic charge is applied to the repair if you go ahead.

See the full oven and range repair cost guide - by material, size and region →

If the number is the problem, here are the ways people pay for it →