DIY GUIDE · HOME REPAIRS & HANDYMAN

How to fault-find an oven, hob or cooker hood yourself
An hour or two. £0–£15 in filters or cleaner, if anything.

Power, settings, burner caps, oven seals and hood filters — the owner's checks on cooking appliances, and the hard stops at wiring and gas.

DIFFICULTY
Easy
part of the job only
TIME
An hour or two
fifteen minutes for power and settings, the rest for burners, the oven interior and the hood filters
MATERIALS
£0–£15
usually nothing; a carbon filter for a recirculating hood at the top end
A PRO CHARGES
£60–£300
typically £125
  • Every step, start to finish
  • Checked October 2026 — sources at the end
  • Honest about when to call a pro

FIRST, THE HONEST ANSWER

Do it yourself, or get a repairer?

Do it yourself if…

  • An electric oven or hob will not come on, and the display shows nothing or only a flashing clock
  • A gas ring lights with a yellow, uneven or lifting flame after a spill
  • The cooker hood is loud but draws little steam, or drips grease
  • The oven smokes or smells every time you use it

Get a pro if…

  • The cooker circuit trips the moment the oven or hob is switched on
  • You smell gas, or a gas ring will not stay alight once the knob is released
  • An element glows in patches, has blistered, or the oven heats on one setting only
  • The appliance is hard-wired and you would have to disconnect it to reach the fault

Safety first

  • Isolate at the cooker switch, fused spur or plug before every check, and let everything cool first.
  • If you smell gas: turn the appliance off, open doors and windows, do not use switches or flames, and call the gas emergency number. HSE says it is illegal to use a gas appliance you suspect is unsafe.
  • Any work on a gas hob, oven or its connection beyond cleaning and seating burner parts must be done by a Gas Safe registered engineer.
  • Never remove the back, side or control panels, or disconnect a hard-wired cooker. The terminals, elements and switches behind them carry mains voltage.
  • A cracked ceramic or induction glass top must not be used; switch off at the cooker switch and leave it off.

Stop here: Anything live, and anything gas

The dangers are mains electricity and gas. Elements, thermostats, fans and switches sit behind panels next to live terminals, and a hard-wired cooker is on a fixed circuit: in England a new cooker circuit is notifiable under Part P of the Building Regulations, and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own building regulations. On the gas side the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations in Great Britain, and the Northern Ireland regulations of the same name, require a Gas Safe registered engineer. Sealed refrigerant circuits in fridges and freezers are restricted work under the F-gas rules. How to hire an appliance engineer →

MATERIALCOVERAGEFOR THIS JOB
Neutral washing-up liquidFor grease filters, burner caps and the oven interiorA squirt per bowl
Bicarbonate of soda pasteFor baked-on spills on enamel, left overnightA few tablespoons
Replacement carbon filterBought by hood model numberOnly for a recirculating hood whose filter is not washable

When the hood filters are due

Count the weeks since the grease filter was last washed and compare with the maker's interval. On a monthly schedule, a filter last cleaned at Christmas is two months overdue by the end of March. A carbon filter is changed on the maker's interval in months, or by the saturation light if the hood has one.

Cook a lot of fried food, and halve the interval; the filter fills by use, not by date.

Electric, gas or both

An electric oven or hob is usually wired to its own cooker circuit through a switch on the wall, not a plug; a gas hob has a gas supply and often a plug for its spark ignition. A dual-fuel cooker has both. Know which you have before you start, because everything on the gas side is restricted work, and everything behind a panel on the electric side is an engineer's.

Settings before faults

Many electric ovens will not heat until the clock has been set after a power cut, and a child lock or an automatic cooking programme can leave the controls doing nothing. The manual's first pages cover it. Five minutes with them rules out a call-out that ends with an engineer setting the time.

The burner cap decides the flame

A gas ring burns cleanly only when its cap and spreader sit square on the burner body. A spill that blocks the slots, or a cap put back at an angle after cleaning, gives a yellow, ragged or lifting flame and may stop the ignition clicking through. The maker of one big range asks for caps to sit in their correct position and pan supports centred over the burners.

Grease filters are a fire precaution

The metal grease filter in a cooker hood traps fat from cooking. One maker asks for it to be cleaned once a month, and warns that neglecting the filters can create a fire risk. A recirculating hood also has a carbon filter that clears smells; some are washable, many are replaced.

Cleaners that suit the surface

Catalytic oven liners clean themselves at high temperature and are damaged by oven cleaner. Ceramic and induction glass is scratched by scourers and metal scrapers. Enamel takes a paste of bicarbonate of soda and water left overnight. Read which interior your oven has before you buy anything.

Keep the manual, or download it by the model number on the plate inside the oven door frame or under the hob.
If a hob or oven is a few years old, look up whether it has been recalled before spending money on it.

THE PART THAT DECIDES THE FINISH

Before you start — the appliance and the space

Find the case that matches what the appliance is doing. Each begins with the appliance cool and isolated: the cooker switch off, or the plug out, or the hood's fused spur off.

Electric oven dead or not heating

No heat, a flashing clock, or nothing on the display.

  1. Check the cooker switch on the wall is on, and the consumer unit has not tripped
  2. Look for a flashing clock and set the time as the manual shows
  3. Check the child lock and any automatic or delay programme
  4. If the circuit trips again when you switch on, leave it off and stop
Gas ring lights badly

Yellow, ragged, lifting or partial flame, or no spark.

  1. Turn the ring off and let the burner cool
  2. Lift off the pan support, the burner cap and the spreader
  3. Look at the slots for burnt-on spills and the electrode for grease
  4. If you smell gas at any point, turn everything off, open windows and stop
Cooker hood loud, drawing little

Noise without suction, or grease dripping.

  1. Switch the hood off at its fused spur, or unplug it
  2. Find the release catch on the grease filter under the canopy
  3. Have a bowl of hot water with washing-up liquid ready
  4. Look for a second, carbon filter behind the grease filter on a recirculating hood
Oven smokes or smells

Smoke at every use, or a burnt smell from the fan.

  1. Switch off at the cooker switch and let the oven cool fully
  2. Take out the shelves and the side racks
  3. Find out from the manual whether the walls are enamel or catalytic liners
  4. Check the oven floor for an old spill that is burning off each time
Oven door does not close or steams

Heat escaping, a fogged inner glass, a sagging door.

  1. Look at the door seal round the oven opening for gaps or tears
  2. Open and close the door slowly and watch whether it drops on one side
  3. Check the manual for whether the inner glass lifts out for cleaning
  4. A hinge that has broken or bent is a part for the maker's service
Ceramic or induction hob not responding

Touch controls dead, or flashing symbols.

  1. Wipe the control area dry; water or a pan on it stops the touch controls
  2. Check the child lock symbol and the manual's way of releasing it
  3. On induction, check the pan is magnetic and big enough for the zone
  4. A cracked glass top means switch off and do not use it again

THE JOB

How to fault-find an oven, hob or cooker hood, in order

  1. Isolate and let it cool

    15 min

    Switch the appliance off at its control, then at the cooker switch on the wall, the fused spur or the plug. Let the oven and hob cool until you can rest a hand on them. Lay a towel on the worktop for the parts you take off. Find the model plate — usually on the frame inside the oven door, or under the hob — and photograph it so you can download the manual. Read the case above that matches your fault.

    • On a gas hob, turn every knob to off and check the flames are out before you touch the burners
    • If the cooker switch has a neon, check it goes out when you switch off
    • Keep children out of the kitchen while parts are off

    Mistake to avoid: Cleaning a burner or a filter with the appliance still live because it is switched off at the knob. The spark generator and the hood motor are fed from the supply, not the knob.

  2. Rule out power and settings

    15 min

    Look at the consumer unit for a tripped switch marked for the cooker. If it has tripped, reset it once; if it trips again, leave it off — that is a fault in the appliance or its wiring, and it is your stop. If the power is on, look at the oven display: many ovens show a flashing clock after a power cut and will not heat until the time is set. Check for a child lock and for an automatic programme left running, and set the oven to a plain heat setting to test.

    • A hob and oven on one cooker switch share one circuit; if neither works, start at the switch
    • An oven that heats only on one function points at an element or switch, which is an engineer's part
    • Write down any fault code shown before you switch off

    Mistake to avoid: Resetting a tripped circuit again and again. Each reset sends power back into whatever caused the trip.

  3. Clean and seat the gas burners

    20 min

    Lift off the pan supports, then each burner cap and the slotted spreader below it. Soak them in hot soapy water and clear the slots with an old toothbrush, then rinse and dry them completely; a wet spreader lights badly. Wipe round the spark electrode with a dry cloth, gently. Put each spreader back on its own burner, with any locating lug in its notch, and set the cap on square. Refit the pan supports so the burners are centred under them.

    • Dry everything fully before refitting; water in the slots gives a spluttering flame
    • Do not push anything into the small jet hole in the burner body
    • Check each ring lights with a blue, even flame all the way round

    Mistake to avoid: Refitting a burner cap a few degrees off its seat. The flame lifts or burns yellow on one side, and the ring can go out once the knob is released.

  4. Clean the hood grease filter

    45 min

    With the hood isolated, pull the spring catch on the grease filter and lower it out. Soak it flat in hot water with a neutral washing-up liquid for about 30 minutes, then brush it gently with an old toothbrush, rinse, and let it dry fully before refitting. Some metal filters can go in a dishwasher on a short, cool cycle — the manual says whether yours can. While it is out, wipe the inside of the canopy with a damp cloth.

    • Do not use abrasive pads or alcohol on the filter or the canopy
    • Refit the filter dry; a wet one drips into the motor housing
    • Check the filter clips home on both sides

    Mistake to avoid: Running the hood with the grease filter out to see if it is quieter. Fat goes straight into the fan and the ducting, which is where cooker-hood fires start.

  5. Deal with the carbon filter on a recirculating hood

    15 min

    A recirculating hood sends air back into the kitchen through a carbon filter that holds smells. Find it behind the grease filter, release it as the manual shows, and check its type: a washable carbon filter goes through the washing and drying routine the maker gives; a non-washable one is replaced on the maker's interval. A hood that still smells with clean filters often has a filter fitted the wrong way round or not clipped home.

    • Order the carbon filter by the hood's model number; filters look alike and fit differently
    • Note the date you changed it on the canopy edge with a marker
    • A ducted hood has no carbon filter; check the duct outlet outside is not blocked instead

    Mistake to avoid: Washing a non-washable carbon filter. It falls apart or stops working, and smells come straight through.

  6. Clean the oven interior the right way

    1 hr

    With the oven cold and isolated, take out the shelves and pull the side racks out from the front. Wash them in hot soapy water. Wipe the walls and floor with warm water and washing-up liquid. For baked-on spills on enamel, spread a paste of bicarbonate of soda and water, leave it overnight, and wipe it off in the morning. If your oven has catalytic liners, leave them alone; they clean themselves once the oven runs hot, and one maker gives that temperature as 200°C.

    • Never use oven cleaner on catalytic liners
    • Wipe the fan cover, not behind it
    • Run the oven empty for a while after cleaning to drive off any residue

    Mistake to avoid: Spraying oven cleaner over catalytic liners or the fan. It clogs the liners for good and can reach the element and the fan motor behind the cover.

  7. Check the oven door and its seal

    20 min

    Look at the seal round the oven opening for gaps, tears or a corner that has come out of its clips. A seal held by hooks often presses back into place. On many ovens the inner door glass lifts out for cleaning, and the manual shows how; clean it, dry it, and refit it the right way up. If the door drops on one side, or a hinge is bent, stop: the hinges are under spring tension and are a part for the maker's service.

    • Clean the glass with a soft cloth and a little washing-up liquid, not a scourer
    • Refit glass panels in the order they came out; some only fit one way
    • A replacement seal is ordered by model number

    Mistake to avoid: Unhooking an oven hinge without the locks the manual describes. Hinge springs are strong, and a hinge that snaps shut can injure a hand.

  8. Clean a glass hob without scratching it

    15 min

    Let the hob cool until you can touch it. Wash it down with a soft cloth wrung out in soapy water, then dry it. Lift burnt sugar or melted plastic with a plastic scraper made for glass hobs, held flat, never a metal blade. For white limescale rings, a little limescale remover, vinegar or lemon juice works. If the touch controls were not responding, dry the control area completely and try them again.

    • Clean spills of sugar straight away once the hob is safe to touch; sugar pits glass as it cools
    • Keep pans dry underneath; water on the controls locks them
    • Check for cracks in good light; a cracked glass hob must not be used

    Mistake to avoid: Scraping a ceramic or induction hob with steel wool or a knife. The scratches are permanent and weaken the glass.

  9. Test, and know where to stop

    15 min

    Switch back on at the cooker switch, spur or plug. Test the oven on a plain setting and check it heats; light each gas ring and watch the flame; run the hood on each speed and hold a sheet of kitchen roll under it to feel the draw. If everything works, you are done. If a fault remains with everything clean, set and powered, the next suspect is a part behind a panel or on the gas side, and that is where this guide ends.

    • Keep the fault code and the model number ready for the engineer
    • Use the oven for a short bake before relying on it for a big meal
    • Put a reminder in your diary for the next hood filter clean

    Mistake to avoid: Taking the back off the oven or the hob out of the worktop to look further. Behind it are the mains terminals, the elements and, on a gas hob, the gas supply.

The mistakes that make it worse

  • Working on burners or filters with the cooker switch or spur still on
  • Refitting a burner cap off its seat
  • Spraying oven cleaner on catalytic liners
  • Resetting a tripping cooker circuit repeatedly
  • Opening a panel or lifting the hob out to look further

Stop here and get an appliance repair engineer

  • The cooker circuit trips, or there is any scorching at the cooker switch, plug or cable
  • You smell gas, or a gas ring will not stay lit, or burns yellow with clean, seated parts
  • An element, thermostat, fan motor, selector switch or hinge needs replacing
  • The fault is still there with the appliance clean, set and powered
How to hire an appliance engineer →

Electric oven not heating, clock flashingThe clock needs setting after a power cut, or a child lock or programme is on. Set the time and test on a plain setting.
Gas hob burner flame yellow or unevenBurner cap or spreader not seated, or slots blocked by a spill. Clean, dry and seat them square. A persistent yellow flame needs a Gas Safe registered engineer.
Gas ring clicks but will not lightWet or greasy electrode, or a cap out of position. Dry the burner, wipe the electrode, seat the cap. If you smell gas, stop.
Cooker hood not sucking up steamSaturated grease filter, a carbon filter overdue, or a blocked duct outlet. Clean the grease filter, change the carbon filter, check the outlet.
Oven smoking every timeAn old spill burning off or grease on the fan cover. Clean the floor and walls, using a bicarbonate paste on enamel and nothing on catalytic liners.
Oven door glass fogged insideMoisture between the panes. If the inner glass lifts out, clean and dry it; a door seal that leaks steam is replaced by model number.
Induction hob not working with a panThe pan is not magnetic or too small for the zone. Test with a fridge magnet on its base.
Cooker circuit trips when switched onA fault in the appliance or the wiring. Leave it off and call an engineer or an electrician.

WHAT YOU SAVE

What it costs to do it yourself

Cooker hood carbon filter, by model£10–£11
Total, a typical cooking appliance fault£0–£15
DIY total£0–£15
An appliance engineer charges per repair
LOW
£60
TYPICAL
£125
HIGH
£300
Appliance Repair price guide →

Guide prices compiled by the Locufy team from published Irish and UK provider price lists and 2026/27 cost guides. Updated 2026.

Settings, burners and filters cost nothing but time. An element, switch or board is what the engineer's price covers.

RATHER NOT?

Appliance engineers near you, with prices shown

The ones who cover your area, nearest first, with one score from every review. No account needed to look.

Or post the job free and let them come to you.

Keep a filter routine

Clean the hood grease filter monthly and change a carbon filter on the maker's interval. Wipe the hob after each use so spills do not bake on.

Use the right cleaner for each surface

Enamel takes a bicarbonate paste; catalytic liners take nothing; glass takes a soft cloth and a plastic scraper.

Dispose of old parts and appliances properly

Old filters go in the general waste. A dead oven, hob or hood is electrical waste: the retailer selling you a like-for-like one must take it back free, or your council collects it or takes it at the household waste recycling centre.

Register the appliance

Register it with the maker so a recall notice reaches you, and keep the model number with the manual.

Fault-finding an oven, hob or cooker hood: questions people ask

Check the cooker switch and the consumer unit, then the display: many ovens will not heat until the clock is set after a power cut, and a child lock or automatic programme can stop them. If the circuit trips, stop.

Usually a burner cap or spreader not seated, or slots blocked by a spill. Clean, dry and seat them. If the flame stays yellow, stop using that ring and call a Gas Safe registered engineer.

One maker says once a month for the grease filter, soaking it for about 30 minutes in hot water and a neutral detergent. A carbon filter is washed or replaced on the maker's interval.

Treat it as an engineer's job. It means removing panels beside live terminals, and on a hard-wired oven disconnecting it from the cooker circuit.

No. Disconnecting and reconnecting a gas cooker is gas work and must be done by a Gas Safe registered engineer.

On the Locufy UK price guide a repair costs £60–£300 per repair, typically £125. A call-out with a simple part sits at the low end; an element or board towards the top.

MORE GUIDES

More DIY guides

Fixing a washing machine that will not drain, spin or fillFixing a dishwasher that will not clean or drainFixing a fridge freezer that is too warm, iced up or leakingFixing a tumble dryer that takes too long or will not startRegrouting tilesPainting a roomHanging wallpaperSpray painting small items outdoors
All 90 DIY guides →How to hire an appliance engineer →Appliance Repair price guide →Appliance engineers on Locufy →

Sources — checked October 2026

  1. Beko — how to clean a cooker hood filter (monthly, soak 30 minutes, isolate at the connector)
  2. Beko — how to clean an oven (catalytic liners at 200°C, bicarbonate paste)
  3. Beko — how to clean a gas, ceramic, electric or induction hob
  4. HSE — domestic gas safety FAQs: unsafe appliances and Gas Safe registered engineers
  5. GOV.UK — building regulations approval: electrics and the competent person schemes
  6. GOV.UK — product recalls and alerts
  7. GOV.UK — WEEE regulations: free like-for-like take-back by retailers
  8. GOV.UK — dispose of household waste
  9. Beko accessories shop — cooker hood carbon filters, price check October 2026