What it usually means, the likely causes in order, what to safely try first, what a pro charges in Canada, and when to stop and call one.
This guide covers the common cases. Describe your exact problem and get a personalized diagnosis — free to start, with a DIY vs. call-a-pro verdict and a real cost estimate.
An oven or stovetop that won't heat — or heats unevenly, with one side raw and the other burnt — has usually lost a single component: the element you'd see glowing, the igniter you'd hear clicking, or the thermostat that tells it when to stop. Ranges are unusually diagnosable appliances because you can watch them try: an electric element that stays dark, a gas igniter that glows weakly without flame, a burner that lights only sometimes. Observe first, with the door open and a minute of patience, and the appliance will often tell you which part quit before anything is taken apart.
Mostly an inconvenience — the stovetop may still work when the oven doesn't, and vice versa, which also helps the diagnosis. Two exceptions deserve respect: a gas oven you can smell gas from (stop, ventilate, and call your gas utility — don't keep trying to light it), and an electric element that's visibly sparking, arcing, or glowing in one intense spot, which should have its breaker switched off until it's replaced.
The elements are consumable parts: they blister, crack, and eventually burn through, often with a visible bright spot or break. If the broiler works but the oven won't bake (or the reverse), the dead element has essentially identified itself — each has its own element.
The most common gas-oven failure by a wide margin. The igniter must glow hot enough to draw enough current to open the gas valve; as it ages it still glows — just not enough — so the oven heats slowly, intermittently, or never. A glow you can see with no burner flame after a minute is the classic signature.
If the oven heats but to the wrong temperature — consistently 25 degrees off, or swinging wildly — the sensor that reports temperature to the control is the suspect. An oven thermometer inside during a preheat gives you the honest number to compare with the display.
For coil stovetops, a single dead burner is usually the element itself or the socket it plugs into (scorched sockets are common). The swap test — moving a working burner of the same size into the dead position — separates burner from socket in two minutes.
When nothing heats and the display is dead or erratic, suspect power first: ranges run on a heavy circuit, and a half-tripped breaker can power the clock and lights while leaving the elements starved. A control board fault is the last stop after elements, igniters, and power are cleared.
| Job size | Typical estimate (CAD) |
|---|---|
| Simple fix — the straightforward version of this repair | $110–$250 |
| Major job — complex, hidden, or replacement-level work | $300–$900 |
Estimates only, calibrated to Greater Toronto Area trade rates and adjusted by region on this site — not a quote. Your exact price depends on the cause, parts, and access. A personalized diagnosis narrows this range using your specific symptom.
Elements on electric ranges are genuinely owner-replaceable on many models (they unplug or unscrew with power off at the breaker), and coil burners swap by hand. Gas igniters are also a defined part swap, but they sit beside a gas valve — confident hands only, gas off, and no shame in hiring it out. Thermostats, sensors, control boards, and anything involving the gas line itself belong to a pro, and any breaker that keeps tripping is an electrician's question, not an appliance experiment.
On a gas oven, that's the weak-igniter signature: the igniter takes longer and longer to get hot enough to open the gas valve, until one day it never does. On electric, an element can partially fail or the sensor can misreport, starting cycles late. Measure it — time a preheat and test with an oven thermometer — because 'slow preheat with correct final temperature' and 'never reaches temperature' lead to different parts.
Uneven baking usually means one heat source is weak (a dying element section or an igniter that lights the burner unevenly), or the sensor is reading the hot spot and cycling early. Check the bake element for blisters or a section that doesn't glow, and confirm you're baking in the centre rack — but a consistent one-sided pattern is an appliance fault, not a technique problem.
A burner clicking without lighting for a few seconds is common (a wet or dirty igniter often just needs drying and cleaning around the burner cap, and the cap must sit flat). It becomes urgent if you smell gas strongly or the clicking continues with gas flowing and no flame — then turn the knob off, ventilate, and treat it as a gas problem rather than an ignition nuisance.
Home ovens cycle above and below the set point by design — swinging in a band around the target is normal as the element or burner cycles. What isn't normal is a consistent, large offset (your thermometer settles 40+ degrees from the setting every time) or swings so wide that baking fails. Many controls allow a calibration adjustment within a modest range; beyond that, the sensor is the suspect.
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