Ovens are unsung kitchen heroes that we use in our daily lives to prepare delicious meals.
Modern ovens come fitted with lights. The lights are primarily put there for your convenience when preparing great meals.
Basically, they help you monitor your recipes without necessarily opening the oven door.
The lights in your oven are extremely important, especially when baking, because opening the door changes temperatures drastically, which may cause severe sponge sinkage.
Of course, nothing lasts forever, so your oven bulb will, at some point, blow or just stop working.
If the inside of your oven gets dark for whatever reason, you will apparently contemplate….
Is It Safe To Use The Oven Without A Light Bulb?
Yes, an oven will still cook your food perfectly without a light bulb. While using your oven without a bulb is technically safe, and nothing drastic is likely to happen, it is not convenient.
Oven bulbs are essentially made to provide light inside your oven; therefore, becoming defective does not in any way hurt the functionality of your oven. When your oven bulb stops working, the very first thing you need to know is if you can still see inside the oven. If you cannot see what is happening inside, the ultimate solution would be having it diagnosed and repaired by an expert. Otherwise, why struggle with a defective oven light bulb when replacement oven bulbs are not hard to get and fix?
Is your oven bulb blown, broken, or not working for whatever reason? This can be painful and inconvenient; therefore, necessitating the need to look for an appropriate replacement. In this article, you will learn more about oven lights, replacing defective ones, and other relevant information.
Five Reasons That There Is No Light Inside Your Oven
Just like other light bulbs, your oven bulb will occasionally go out, making it difficult for you to monitor the progress of whatever food you’re preparing.
There are myriad reasons the light bulb of your oven won’t turn on, leaving your food in darkness.
Here are few reasons the interior of your oven might be dark.
1. A Defective Oven Bulb
Even the highest quality oven bulb will fail after years of illuminating the interior of your oven.
If your bulb doesn’t light up after you flip the switch, check to see if the filament inside is broken.
Mostly, your oven bulb will blow and leave the glass intact.
In this case, you can still use your oven, but it is best when you replace it with a bulb suited for use in an oven.
2. When The Safety Thermostat Is Faulty
Unfortunately, you won’t be able to use your oven if the thermostat is defective.
Although the safety thermostat primarily prevents the oven from overheating, the bulb will not shine if it is faulty. The good news is that resetting a thermostat is very simple.
3. Faulty Contact In The Light Socket
Like any other socket, the socket of your oven bulb can be faulty.
The light socket brings the bulb into contact with the electric current; therefore, the bulb will not come on if there is a bad contact.
To continue enjoying the convenience of light inside your oven, you might need to replace the light socket.
4. Damage To Electrical Wires/Cable
When the interior of your oven is dark, it is not always the bulb that has blown.
Sometimes your food will be left in the dark because the cords supplying your bulb with electrical power are damaged.
If you’re certain the bulb and light switch are in good condition, but the oven’s interior is dark, call an expert to check and mend the issue.
5. When The Main Circuit Board Of Your Oven Is Faulty
The PCB is responsible for managing all functions of your oven, including the heating element, fan motor, and oven light.
If everything has been checked and found functional, but you can’t get light inside your oven, the main circuit board might be faulty.
Depending on what the issue is, you may have it repaired by a manufacturer-approved professional or, at worst, replace the entire component.
It is no surprise for an oven bulb to burn out or the filament to break. Fortunately, you will be able to use your oven without a light bulb and get your meals perfectly cooked.
However, you must ensure the glass cover is in place.
There is a possibility that you might be electrocuted by a live wire at the base of the bulb.
Therefore, before you continue using your oven without a light bulb, assess the risk of inadvertently sticking anything inside the bulb’s socket.
Otherwise, the bulb has utterly nothing to do with oven operation.
Unless it is behind a safety guard, leaving the live socket empty can be hazardous, so leave the blown bulb in until you get a replacement bulb and install it.
How To Replace An Oven Bulb In Five Steps
The light in your oven plays an indispensable role in illuminating the interior of your oven.
You can monitor the progress of whatever you’re cooking without necessarily opening the door.
If you frequently use your oven to make desserts and cakes, you know how it can be messy to prepare these delicate foods without keeping an eye on them.
Fortunately, it is not hard to get and install an oven replacement bulb.
Here are steps to help you replace your oven’s light bulb easily and, most importantly, safely.
1. Ensure The Bulb Is The Problem
If the light does not come on when you flip the switch, it doesn’t mean the bulb is blown.
Therefore, it is imperative to make sure your bulb is the only issue you need to fix.
2. Find The Right Bulb For Your Oven
Before ordering a replacement bulb, ensure it is compatible with your oven.
The easiest way to know what bulb is best to buy is by checking your instruction manual. Keep in mind that finding the right bulb for your oven could not be the easiest task.
Thankfully, some sites have filters to help you find the correct bulb by typing your original bulb’s model number.
If you don’t get a bulb matching your model, you can still use a universal oven bulb. All the same, it must be the same wattage and have the same size cap to fit snugly in the bulb housing.
3. Switch Off The Oven And, If Possible, Unplug It:
Safety first! Before you start working on your oven, make sure it is at room temperature and switched off. For an extra layer of safety, unplug the oven from the receptacle to completely cut the power supply to the oven.
4. Identify Where The Bulb Is Located And Remove It
You might be surprised by how hard it is to find an oven light when it is not on.
For some models, you might need a flashlight to locate the bulb. The light bulb is usually installed behind a bulb cover (safety guard).
To remove the bulb, you need to start by removing the cover. Gently twist the cover and pull it; it should come off, allowing you to remove the faulty bulb.
5. Fit the new bulb
Screw the new bulb in place and replace the cover appropriately.
You can now pat yourself on the back. Light is restored inside your oven.
Four Precautions When Buying And Replacing An Oven Light
Although replacing a faulty oven bulb is not a difficult task, you must be keen to detail. With that said, here are some things to keep an eye on.
1. Do Not Use A Regular Light Bulb
Although regular bulbs are cheap and readily available, do not be tempted to install one in your oven.
Standard light bulbs are not designed to withstand the unforgiving oven temperatures, so they will immediately burst when they get into contact with the hot liquid.
2. Make Sure To Purchase The Right Bulb For Your Oven
Although oven light bulbs are designed to cope with extreme temperatures, not all models are compatible with your oven.
The shapes and sizes of oven bulbs vary significantly, so do not assume any light bulb is good for your oven.
A hassle-free way to get a bulb that will do the trick is reading the manual.
3. Never Use A LED bulb In An Oven
When replacing the light bulb of your oven, one of the greatest mistakes you can make is putting a LED lamp in the bulb housing.
The light bulb will shatter because LEDs are not designed to persevere high temperatures.
Only incandescent bulbs are suitable for use in ovens.
Indeed, when the oven is operating, incandescent bulbs use less energy than their rating because the heat from the oven preheats the filament.
4. The Bulb Is Not Always The Problem
Having no light inside your oven is a real pain.
However, it is more annoying to buy a new bulb only to find that your old bulb was absolutely fine.
If you install a new bulb and can’t still get light, you might consider consulting an electrician.
Conclusion
If you’re leading a busy life, you probably use your oven on a daily basis.
For this reason, you will not like struggling with a defective oven.
Although you can use your oven without a light bulb, it will be inconvenient.
The best solution is to have the oven bulb replaced. Hope this article was helpful.
