Oven does not turn on?

The thermocouple might be kaput. That’s the doohickey that senses when it’s hot enough to light the gas coming through.

When the 33-year-old oven in my flat was a goner, good ol’ Home Depot had a GE gas range on sale for less than $350. Got it in the flat and the super hooked it up to the line for a $30 handshake.

Good luck!

If your stove is old enough you might consider talking to these people. Really old gas stoves are wonderful. This is like my mother’s stove. She bought it used in 1950, and finally sold it in 2006 for $2500.

Call a reputable repair company and ask them.

We have a repair warranty on our appliances, so the only cost is a house visit. When our gas stove refused to turn on, the repair warranty paid for a service visit.

Maybe you should look into buying an insurance policy.

aprilsemnel is on the right track. It does sound like a problem with the thermocouple. This doohickey will be the small barrel shaped thing that is situated right in the pilot light. It will have a thin copper tube running from that to the main gas valve. Just take your stove make and model to a appliance repair shop and they should be able to sell you one for $20–25. Then if you are the least bit handy with tools you should be able to replace it yourself.