Why isn’t My Oven Fan Working? Try our Troubleshooting Guide

An oven that’s not heating correctly is one of the most common problems that our engineers are called to resolve. When you switch on your oven, it’s fan evenly distributes the heat generated by the element. A fault in either the fan or the element will prevent your oven from heating effectively. There could be other minor faults as well.

Let’s look at this problem in more detail.

Faulty oven fan element:

If the oven is blowing cold air (which means the fan is working), and the oven thermostat light is on, then the element surrounding the fan could be damaged.

Ask a technician to unplug the appliance and remove the back panel inside the oven. This will expose the oven fan and element. On close inspection if the element appears burnt in some places, then the  appliance technician will almost certainly need to replace that part.

Note, sometimes the damage to the element is not visible, but it could be broken inside the element casing. Your appliance technician will need to confirm this. Replacing the oven element will cost you in the region of £75 – £125.

Faulty oven fan motor:

There could be a problem with the oven fan motor if:

• the fan appears noisy or works more slowly than usual
• the oven light is on and the element gets hot, but the heating is ineffective

With the oven turned off and unplugged, the technician will remove the inside panel and give the oven fan a turn by hand. If it appears stiff then the fan motor is faulty and needs replacement.

The technician is also likely to:

• Check if a fan blade has come loose, which may be causing the fan to become ineffective and make strange sounds.
• Check if the oven fan is covered with grease and muck from cooking. Giving the oven fan a good cleaning may solve the problem.

Incorrect oven setting:

If neither the fan nor the heating is working, the oven may have been set in ‘auto’ mode. Reset the oven to ‘manual’ mode. Your oven should start working now. Refer to your user manual for more details.

Faulty oven thermostat:

Finally, if the fan is not working and there is no light in the oven, then there could be a problem with the oven thermostat.

Call an appliance engineer to handle replacement of any part in the oven.

Please remember:

Appliances should be serviced regularly according to the manufacturer’s instructions – found in the product manual. If you have a problem with an appliance, call in a NICEIC or Gas-Safe registered appliance engineer to repair your appliance. Don’t forget that if your appliance is not working optimally, you should also have it serviced to prevent causing damage to the appliance.