Oven won't heat? Here's what to check before you call

A cold oven mid-recipe is one of the more frustrating appliance problems, mostly because the cause isn't always obvious. The right next step depends on whether you have a gas or electric oven, and a few quick observations can point you toward the answer before you decide whether to call for repair.

First, confirm it's actually not heating

Ovens sometimes take longer to reach temperature than people expect, especially larger or older units. Give it a full 15 to 20 minutes and check with an independent oven thermometer placed inside, since the display setting doesn't always reflect the true internal temperature. If the thermometer confirms it's staying cold or well below the set temperature, move on to the checks below.

For electric ovens

Look at the bake element

The bake element is the exposed coil at the bottom of the oven cavity. Turn the oven on and watch it for a minute or two, it should glow red-orange as it heats. If it doesn't glow at all, or if you can see a visible break, blister, or bulge in the coil, the element has likely burned out. This is one of the most common oven repairs and generally straightforward to fix.

Check if the broil element works

If the bake element seems fine but the oven still isn't heating during normal baking, try the broil setting briefly. If broil works but bake doesn't, that narrows the problem specifically to the bake element or its wiring, rather than a shared component like the control board.

For gas ovens

Listen and watch for ignition

When you turn on a gas oven, you should hear the igniter clicking or humming, followed by a distinct "whoosh" sound as the burner ignites. If you hear the igniter working but never hear or see ignition, the igniter itself is likely too weak to trigger the gas valve to open, a common and moderate-cost repair.

Check for a burner that lights but won't stay lit

If the burner ignites but then shuts off shortly after, this often points to a faulty flame sensor or thermocouple, which are safety components that shut off gas flow if they don't detect a proper flame.

For both types

Check the control board and settings

Occasionally the issue isn't the heating element or igniter at all, it's the control board misreading temperature or failing to send power to the heating components. If you've confirmed the element or igniter looks and sounds normal but the oven still won't heat, this is a strong possibility, and one that generally requires a technician to properly diagnose.

Once you've narrowed down which of these matches what you're seeing, you have a good idea of what a technician will find, and can get a faster, more accurate diagnosis. See our oven repair page for more on how we handle these issues, or our gas appliance repair page for gas-specific concerns.

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