Range Oven Lifespan: How Long Should Your Oven Last and When to Replace

When you buy a range oven, a combined cooktop and oven unit used for baking, roasting, and stovetop cooking. Also known as a cooker, it’s one of the most used appliances in the kitchen. Most modern range ovens last between 15 and 20 years—if they’re treated right. But if you’re noticing your oven takes forever to heat up, burns food unevenly, or throws error codes out of nowhere, it might not be the thermostat. It could be the end of its life.

The electric oven, a kitchen appliance that uses heating elements to generate heat for cooking and the gas oven, a cooking appliance that uses natural gas or propane as its heat source both follow similar lifespan rules, but their failure points are different. Electric ovens often die because the heating elements wear out or the control board glitches. Gas ovens usually last longer, but gas valves, igniters, or thermocouples can fail. Neither should be repaired if they’re over 15 years old and the fix costs more than half the price of a new one. A 20-year-old oven isn’t just old—it’s inefficient. New models use 20% less energy and heat more evenly, which saves money every month.

What kills an oven faster? Skipping cleaning. Grease and food debris build up over time, especially around the heating elements and vents. That forces the oven to work harder, overheats internal parts, and shortens its life. Not using the self-clean feature? That’s fine—but don’t ignore the bottom tray. A dirty oven isn’t just messy; it’s a fire risk. And if you’ve ever tried to fix a broken oven yourself, you know how easy it is to mess up the wiring or damage the control panel. That’s why oven repair, the process of diagnosing and restoring function to a malfunctioning range oven should be left to professionals who know what they’re looking at.

You don’t need to replace your oven the second it acts up. Sometimes it’s just a faulty element, a loose wire, or a dirty sensor. But if you’ve had two or three repairs in the last two years, you’re chasing ghosts. Every fix is buying you a little more time, but not a new life. Think of it like a car: you wouldn’t keep fixing a 20-year-old engine with $500 repairs every six months. Same logic applies here.

The posts below cover real cases—people who thought their oven was broken beyond repair, only to find out a $30 part fixed it. Others learned the hard way that waiting too long cost them hundreds more. You’ll find guides on spotting early warning signs, understanding repair costs versus replacement, and how to tell if your oven is even worth fixing. Whether you’ve got an electric model, a gas one, or something in between, these posts give you the facts—not the fluff.