Electric Oven Not Heating Up

What's happening?

An electric oven that has power but no heat has a short list of suspects, and they are different from the reasons an oven trips the electrics. In a fan oven the heat comes from a circular element around the fan at the back; when it fails it commonly goes open circuit, so the fan still turns and the light still works but nothing heats. The thermostat is the next candidate, and there is a third part people rarely know about: a thermal cut-out, a one-shot safety device that opens if the oven overheats and stays open until it is replaced. A tripped cut-out gives exactly this symptom — everything alive, no heat at all — and is often a symptom of a cooling fan problem rather than a fault in itself. This page is about the appliance. If the oven trips the RCD or the fusebox, that is the electrical side of the same appliance and a different diagnosis.

What usually causes it?

• A failed fan oven element, gone open circuit with no visible damage
• A failed oven thermostat, so heating is never called for
• A tripped thermal cut-out, which does not reset itself and must be replaced
• A tangential cooling fan failure, which then overheats the cavity and trips the cut-out
• A failed oven timer or clock module, which on many models blocks the oven from running
• A selector or function switch worn out on the setting you use most
• A loose or burnt connection at the oven terminal block, common on older cookers
• A control board fault on an electronically controlled oven

When should you call an appliance repair engineer?

Call an appliance engineer when the oven has power but will not heat, when only some functions work, or when the element has visibly failed. Call urgently — and stop using the oven — if there is any smell of hot plastic or burning, any scorching around the terminal block, or if the cut-out trips again after being replaced. If the oven trips the RCD or the circuit breaker rather than simply not heating, that is the electrical fault version and needs treating as such.

What will the appliance repair engineer actually do?

• Isolate the appliance, then test the element, thermostat and thermal cut-out for continuity
• Check the cooling fan operates, since a failed fan is what trips the cut-out in the first place
• Inspect the terminal block and internal connections for heat damage and loose terminals
• Verify the timer, clock or programmer is not inhibiting the oven, and test the selector switch
• Fit the failed element, thermostat or cut-out and find the reason a cut-out tripped rather than just replacing it
• Run the oven up to temperature and verify it holds it against a calibrated probe

If the appliance is gas, this is not the page

Everything above is about electric ovens. A gas oven or hob that will not light, burns yellow or smells of gas is regulated work: under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, work on a gas appliance must be carried out by someone competent and registered with the Gas Safe Register.

That is not a formality. An incorrectly adjusted or partially blocked gas appliance can produce carbon monoxide, which has no smell. If you can smell gas, or a carbon monoxide alarm sounds, deal with that as an emergency before anything else.

• Do not dismantle, adjust or attempt to repair any gas appliance yourself
• Use a Gas Safe registered engineer, and check the registration on the card and the register
• Smell of gas: do not use switches or naked flames, ventilate, and call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999
• A carbon monoxide alarm sounding means get fresh air and treat it as an emergency