Your kitchen is one of the most important rooms in your home. This area is where you bond with your household, host events, and, most importantly, cook food. You can’t cook if your appliances don’t work, though. Sometimes these items just need a quick repair, but if there are certain continuous problems, you may need to replace them. Keep reading to learn about the seven signs your cooktop might need a replacement.

Constant Burner Repairs

The burners are the star of your cooktop. If your burners aren’t working properly and need constant repairs, then the star of your show is down, meaning you can’t cook how you want. One of the most common cooktop issues you may encounter is the inability to turn it on. This issue is most common in gas cooktops when an ignitor goes bad, but electric cooktops can also wear out their heating elements. Sometimes you just need to replace the ignitor or similar heating element. If this repair isn’t enough, or you’re constantly replacing that heating element, then you may need to replace the whole cooktop.

Burner Corrosion

Every chef spills things when they cook, and home chefs are no exception. While you shouldn’t berate yourself for these spills, you do need to clean them up as quickly as possible. Otherwise, these spilled liquids can cause your burners to corrode. The most obvious form of corrosion you may notice is rust. If you already see rust or another form of corrosion on your burner, you need to replace the burner. You can try to clean it, but the metal is already deteriorating, which means that cleaning won’t reverse or stop that process. If rust appears on the burners despite your best efforts to keep them clean, you may have a problem with your stovetop and should consider replacing it.

Burner Cracks

While corrosion can occur on gas or electric stovetops, cracking is a phenomenon you’ll probably only see in electric gas cooktops. Cracks can come from various sources, such as extreme temperature changes or dropping something heavy onto the cooktop. Whatever the cause, there is no way to repair the crack. At the least, you’ll need to replace the glass top of the cooktop. If cracks continue to appear despite your best efforts to avoid them, you may need to replace the entire cooktop.

Control Problems

We mentioned above that the burner is the star of your cooktop. While this remains true, those burners cannot properly function without the cooktop controls, just as the star of a stage performance couldn’t properly perform without a light and sound crew. Depending on the type of cooktop you have, you may have various kinds of controls that you use each time you cook. The most popular control forms are knobs and buttons. Some cooktops use both, while others only use one kind of control.

No matter what kind of control your cooktop uses, a problem with this feature is a big deal. Control panels include plenty of wiring, and repairing part of that wiring or the visual part of the control panel is expensive. Instead of making a costly repair on an old cooktop, it’s often best to replace the cooktop entirely.

Heat Problems

Maybe your cooktop’s parts seem to work fine, but the burner isn’t heating as it should. Gas flames may flicker constantly, go out for no reason, or burn at a lower temperature than what you need. Electric burners may not glow red or take longer than necessary to reach that red glow. Sometimes your burner heats up but does so unevenly, leading your food to cook unevenly as well. No matter what heat problem you have, you need to address it as soon as possible. When your burner isn’t as hot as you need, you waste time waiting for food to cook and even risk food poisoning caused by unevenly cooked food.

Sometimes you can solve the heat problem with a quick repair. However, no heating element lasts forever in a stovetop. Even if you replace it, you’ll eventually need to replace it again when it wears out. Instead of constantly replacing or otherwise repairing the heat source in your stovetop, you may need to replace the entire appliance.

Strange Smells

Cooking is a sensory experience, but your cooktop should never emit strange smells. Some smells have simple explanations that shouldn’t cause you to panic, such as a spilled substance burning. However, if your cooktop is clean and you notice a strange smell coming from it whenever you turn it on, something may be wrong inside the cooktop. Gas cooktops may have a problem with the gas line, which is dangerous for you and anyone else in the household. Electric cooktops may have a problem with their wiring or heating elements.

Regardless of the cause, you should turn the cooktop off if it emits a strange smell. Call a professional to examine it. You may only have to make a simple repair, but depending on the cause of the smell, you may have to replace the cooktop.

Kitchen Updates

All the signs that you need to replace your cooktop that we listed above are serious problems that require attention. Sometimes, though, you can opt to replace your cooktop for a fun reason, such as updating your entire kitchen.

Updating and renovating your kitchen is a fantastic way to ensure your kitchen is meeting your cooking and hosting needs. While finances may limit how much you can update and renovate, it’s always best to replace kitchen appliances at the same time. This step helps you match aesthetics and allows you to enjoy a fresh start in such a crucial area of your home.

Replacing appliances can feel stressful, but if you know the signs to look for and where you can find the necessary replacement, you don’t need to worry. If you’re looking for high-end gas cooktops for your oven for any reason, ROBAM is happy to help you find the right one. Our gas cooktops come in various sizes, and any replacement cooktop you choose will make for an excellent addition to your kitchen.