Stove & Oven Guide
Oven Heating Element Replacement
Most electric ovens have two elements — a bake element on the floor and a broil element up top. When one fails, the oven either won't heat, heats slowly, or bakes unevenly. It's one of the more common oven faults, and one of the more visible: a failed element often shows it.
Signs the element has gone
- A visible break, blister, or bright spot where the element burned through.
- The oven won't reach temperature, or takes far too long to preheat.
- Food browns on top but stays raw underneath (broil works, bake doesn't) — or the reverse.
- No glow at all from the element when the oven is set to bake.
Rule out the look-alikes first
An element that looks fine can still be open internally, and a few other faults mimic a dead element. A failed oven temperature sensor, a bad igniter on a gas oven, or a control-board relay can all leave you with weak or no heat. The fast test is to set the oven to bake and watch: a healthy element glows evenly orange within a couple of minutes. No glow, or glow in only one section, points to the element. Uneven baking with a good-looking element more often points to the sensor or a worn door gasket letting heat escape.
What replacement involves
A bake or broil element is usually a bolt-in part: cut the power, remove two screws at the back of the oven cavity, pull the element forward, and transfer the two wires to the new one. Straightforward in principle. The catch is the wires can slip back behind the rear panel, and the element must be the exact match for your model. Because it's live 240-volt wiring inside the oven, it's worth getting right — we carry the common elements and fit them in a single visit.
Rather have a pro handle it?
Our technicians repair this across Toronto and the GTA — same-day in many cases, with clear pricing and a warranty on the work.