5 Reasons Why Your Oven Isn’t Heating Up
Your oven is at the heart of the operation when it comes to cooking and baking your favourite homemade dishes. It is not ideal when you turn your oven on, and it doesn’t heat up! We are here to help you find the reason as to why your oven may not be heating up. Finding the defective part for replacement can be challenging. Let’s take a look at the common reasons that may explain why your oven isn’t heating.
How to tell if your oven isn’t heating properly:
First things first, safety! Make sure that you have unplugged the oven before starting to look at electrical wires. If you have a gas oven, make sure you have shut off the gas. If in doubt, call a professional cooker repair service!
To check if your oven is heating at the right temperature, get a basic temperature gauge that will withstand the temperature of the oven. Put it in the oven and set it to 180 degrees celsius. Allow 10 minutes or so for the oven to heat up and then check if the oven is at the same temperature as the temperature gauge. If they are showing different temperatures, it means your oven isn’t heating properly.
Reasons why your oven may not be heating properly:
1. Defective Heating Elements
If your oven won’t heat up, it is most likely that the problem is being caused by a defective heating element. Electric ovens have two heating elements; one at the top for baking and one on the bottom for broiling. It is easy to check whether these two elements are working properly, they should turn red when you turn them on. It is possible that one may work and the other won’t. If you replace it and the oven still doesn’t heat up correctly, the issue may be electrical.
2. Defective/Broken Temperature Sensor
Temperature sensors are built into the majority of electric ovens to monitor the inside oven temperature when in use. If this sensor becomes defective or breaks, it may explain why your oven won’t heat up correctly. If you have an oven with a digital display, check the oven elements and wires before you replace the sensor. Some ovens have a bulb that senses the temperature, check to see if it needs tightening. If it has burnt out, replace it.
3. Burn out Thermostat or Selector Switch
The thermostat runs the temperature of the oven and it won’t heat up the oven if it is burnt out. You can test if the thermostat is broken by using a multimeter. Place the multimeter on the thermostat, if the thermostat has no reading AT ALL then it is faulty and needs to be replaced.
If the selector switch is broken, consult the manual. If you don’t have a printed version, search the manufacturer or model of your oven online. Once you have located the selector switch, pull off the knob and loosen the selector switch underneath it. You can find a replacement part for the thermostat or selector switch online by searching your oven’s model number.
4. Improper Calibration
Your oven may not be calibrated correctly, especially if it does heat up but not to the right temperature. To check if this is the cause of the oven not heating properly, locate the calibration dial at the back of your temperature knob or down at the bottom of the small shaft. Refer back to the manual if you can not locate the dial. Once you have found it, you should be able to adjust the screw on the dial. Turn the screw clockwise to increase the oven temperature and turn the screw counterclockwise to turn it down. In most ovens, half of a turn should increase/decrease the oven temperature by 25 degrees.
5. Bad Relays
The oven will have two relays if it has two heating elements. Relays can burn out over time and this can depend on how old your oven is and how much it has been used. This is a difficult element to be able to fix, so this may be the time to call in your local oven repair service.
Cooker Solutions Ltd
We have discussed 5 of the most common reasons as to why your oven may not be heating correctly. You may be able to troubleshoot and fix any of the issues we have covered. However, if your oven is still not heating properly, it is always advised to call in professionals. To get expert diagnosis and repairs, contact Cooker Solutions Ltd. Here at Cooker Solutions Ltd, we provide the best specialist domestic appliance repair to all makes of ovens. Contact us today on 0750 822 9049 or fill out our online contact form.