Gas ovens are becoming a somewhat uncommon sight in British kitchens, but gas oven problems still occur. Electric cookers - though more expensive to run - are simpler to install, easier to clean, and better at cooking food evenly than their gas-powered counterparts, and so it's not too difficult to see why a lot of people are opting for electric appliances nowadays.

That being said, there are still plenty of gas ovens in use, and if you're reading this, you may well have one in your own home.

Unfortunately, there are quite a few gas oven (or any kind of oven, for that matter) problems that could occur while you own one. We're here today to help you work out what's wrong with your gas appliance and, hopefully, get it working again!

Gas oven problems - what's the matter with it?

For specific information on your gas oven problem and how to solve it, choose the scenario that most closely resembles the issue you're experiencing:

• There's no gas reaching the oven when I switch it on. This indicates that you probably have a problem with your gas supply. Check your meter - is it in the 'ON' position? Are you up to date on your utility bill payments? If the answer to both of those questions is 'yes', you should contact the 24hr gas emergency service immediately as there may be a leak. The number to call is 0800 111 999.
  
  
• The oven isn't heating up. This problem may occur because your ignition generator isn't working - i.e. gas is flowing into the oven, but the component that ignites the flammable gas isn't doing its job and may need replacing. Alternatively, there may be a problem with the oven burner itself - if this is the case, you can buy a replacement burner here.
  
  
• The oven heats up, but the temperature is wrong. If your gas oven frequently over- or under-cooks your food, it may be because your oven thermostat (the part that tells the burner when to heat up and when to cool down) is faulty or not calibrated properly. Of course, it could be something far simpler - for instance, if your oven's door seal is broken, heat may be escaping from the oven cavity and forcing you to leave your food in for longer.

Do you still have gas oven problems? Contact the Cooker Spare Parts team for further assistance!

IMPORTANT: You should not conduct any work on a gas oven (or any gas appliance) unless you are a member of the Gas Safe Register. Gas appliances can be dangerous, and only qualified personnel should attempt to service them.

Simmerstats - also known as an energy regulator or infinite switch - are responsible for turning the heating elements on and off in hobs, grills, and various other cooking appliances. During the cooking period, the simmerstat tells the heating element to turn on and switch off at regular intervals. The length of those intervals is determined by you, the user - you simply turn the control knob that's hooked up to the simmerstat to determine how long you want each on period and each off period to last (and thus how much energy you want the heating element to use).

An example of a simmerstat in use

Let's imagine you're heating up some pasta sauce on your cooker's hob.

The instructions on the jar call for a low heat, so you turn the hob's control knob a quarter-turn. This is effectively telling the simmerstat that you want the hob's heating element on a quarter of the time.

Switching the hob on begins a cycle that is regulator by the simmerstat (energy regulator). For instance, the heating element might come on for 10 seconds, then turn off for 30 seconds, then come on for another 10 seconds, then go off for another 30 seconds...

You get the idea. This duty cycle means that, overall, the hob's heating element is operating at roughly a quarter of its full power, and since it is switched off for 75% of the time, your pasta sauce won't be allowed to get too hot.

If you're cooking something else that calls for a higher heat setting, you might turn the control knob three-quarters of the way around. Now you're telling the simmerstat to keep the hob ON for 75% of the time and OFF for 25% of the time. In this case, the element would theoretically stay on for 30 seconds before switching off for 10 seconds.

Need a new simmerstat?

If your simmerstat has stopped working then your cooker won't work properly either. Don't worry, though - we have a range of spare energy regulators available here at Cooker Spare Parts.

Buy cooker thermostats and simmerstats >

It's great having a fan oven. Not only do fan-assisted appliances cook food faster than traditional ovens, they generally do so at lower temperatures - most cooking instructions nowadays specify one temperature setting for fan ovens and another, higher setting for everyone else (e.g. 200°C / Fan 180°C).

This means:

• Less waiting around for your oven to preheat
• Less energy used up per meal
• Shorter food preparation periods

As we said, it's great to have a fan oven. But just like any appliance, a fan oven can break down, and what good is an oven - fan-assisted or otherwise - that can't cook anything?

Today, we're going to introduce you to some common fan oven repairs to help you get your fan-assisted appliance up and running again. But there's one important question that we ought to answer first:

How does a fan oven work?

A standard electric oven cooks food via a heating element - basically a coil of wire that converts electrical energy into heat, warming up the oven and everything in it.

Fan-assisted ovens rely on heating elements as well, but with one big difference: the fan. The fan in an electric fan oven spins at all times when the oven is in use; this distributes the heat throughout the oven cavity, cooking your food more evenly and more efficiently.

Q: My fan isn't working - can I still use my fan oven like a normal oven?

A: No, unfortunately you can't. Fan-assisted ovens are specifically designed with the heat-distributing effect of the fan in mind. If the fan blades aren't spinning around and spreading the heat generated by your element throughout the whole oven, there's a high risk that the element will overheat and stop working. 

For this reason, you should NOT use a fan-assisted oven if the fan is not working. With this in mind, fan oven repairs are something that should be dealt with as soon as possible.

Now that you understand how a fan oven works, let's take a look at some common issues and how to fix them:

1. The fan has stopped working

If the fan in your fan-assisted oven isn't starting up when you switch the appliance on, you may need to replace the fan motor.

Buy a new fan oven motor here >

How to replace your oven fan >

2. The oven isn't heating up

What if your fan is working fine, but there's no heat for it to distribute? If that's the case, you may need a new oven element.

Buy oven elements >

How to replace a fan oven element >

3. Other issues...

There are lots of other things that can go wrong in a fan oven. Perhaps the door seal is broken and you're losing during cooking, or perhaps there's an issue with the power supply and your appliance isn't turning on at all.

No matter what's happened to your fan oven or what sort of repair work it needs, we at Cooker Spare Parts can help! We stock all kinds of replacement components for fan-assisted ovens, and our cooker experts are always on hand to help you work out which part(s) you need to purchase. Follow the link below to ask for advice on any fan oven repairs you may have. 

Contact us for expert cooker advice >