Cooker tripping the electrics: what our engineers find
These figures come from NAC's own repair records: 73 cooker jobs our engineers attended for this fault in the last 12 months. Here is what they found, what fixed it and what it typically cost.
When a cooker trips the electrics, engineers sometimes find that one of the heating elements has worn out inside. The grill element is a frequent culprit, especially when the trip happens as soon as the grill is switched on, but the fan oven element and the lower element in the oven can fail in the same way. As an element ages, its insulation can break down and let electricity leak to earth, which makes the safety switch in your fuse box cut the power. Sometimes an element also breaks completely, so the oven stops heating as well as tripping.
To find the cause, an engineer runs electrical safety tests on the cooker and then tests each element on its own. Disconnecting a suspect element and checking whether the tripping stops shows which part is at fault. It is quite common for several elements to need replacing together.
The faulty elements are then replaced. Sometimes the engineer carries the right part, but often it has to be ordered and fitted at a second visit. Until then, it is safest to leave the cooker switched off and not use it. Once the new parts are in, the engineer heats the oven and grill up to temperature to make sure nothing trips.
Written by our engineers from these jobs.
- Jobs attended
- 73
- in the last 12 months
- Confirmed repairs
- 56
- This is not a success rate. Jobs inside their 60-day window, jobs still being classified, jobs held for review and visits that didn't end in a repair aren't counted.
- Fixed at the first appointment
- 29%
- about 3 in 10 of our repairs
- Typical total paid by customers
- £159 to £279
- including parts and VAT, from 55 repairs
No single cause has enough confirmed repairs behind it yet to show for this fault.
About the price. £159 to £279 is the typical total paid by customers, including parts and VAT: the middle half of what customers paid on 55 of these repairs. Repairs paid for by manufacturers and insurers aren't counted, because that work is charged at contract rates. It's a guide, not a quote. Your engineer confirms a fixed price before any work starts.
Before you check anything yourself
- Switch the cooker off and unplug it, or turn it off at the isolator switch, before you touch anything. Our guide to safely isolating an appliance walks you through it.
- If it involves the mains supply, sealed parts, or you're not confident at any point, stop and book a qualified engineer rather than risk injury or further damage.
- If it's a gas appliance and you can smell gas, don't use it. Open the windows and call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999.
Rather leave it to us?
- Fixed-price quote before any work starts
- Same or next-day visits where available
- UK-wide engineer coverage