Direct answer: When the lower oven will not heat but the upper oven still works, the usual culprits are a bad lower oven bake element, a lower oven temperature sensor that is reading wrong, or a lower-oven control issue after the simple setting checks are ruled out.
Most likely: Start with the lower oven mode, temperature setting, delayed-start or timer settings, and whether the lower oven bake element actually glows or warms during preheat.
Treat this like two separate ovens sharing one cabinet. If the upper oven works and the lower one does not, that usually points to a lower-oven-specific part or setting, not a whole-house power problem. Reality check: many 'dead' lower ovens are stuck in the wrong mode or waiting on a timer. Common wrong move: replacing parts before confirming whether the lower oven is failing in bake only, broil only, or every mode.
Don’t start with: Do not start by ordering a control board. On this symptom, the lower oven heating element or sensor is more believable than the expensive electronics.
The display, light, and controls respond, but the lower cavity never gets warm.
Start here: Start with settings, delayed-start, and door closure. Then check whether either lower oven heating circuit comes on during preheat.
Top heat works or gets hot, but baking temperatures are weak or absent.
Start here: This points first to the lower oven bake element or its wiring, not the sensor.
Food takes forever, preheat drags on, or the oven seems 50 to 100 degrees low.
Start here: Look at the lower oven temperature sensor and door seal before blaming the control.
The problem started right after a cleaning cycle, outage, or breaker trip.
Start here: Check for a tripped breaker, locked-out settings, or a damaged lower oven element before assuming the control failed.
The display can look normal while the lower oven is waiting for a timed cycle or sitting in a non-heating mode.
Quick check: Cancel the cycle, clear timers, choose a basic bake mode, and set a normal temperature like 350.
If the lower oven broiler works but baking heat is weak or missing, the lower bake element is the first real suspect.
Quick check: During bake preheat, look for obvious damage, blistering, cracks, or a section of the lower oven bake element that never heats.
A drifting sensor can make the lower oven underheat, short-cycle, or act finished before the cavity is actually hot.
Quick check: If the lower oven heats some but is consistently far off temperature, the lower oven temperature sensor moves up the list.
If settings are correct and the lower oven element and sensor check out, the lower oven may not be switching power to the heating circuit.
Quick check: This is more likely when neither bake nor broil in the lower oven will heat, while the upper oven still works normally.
Wrong mode, delayed start, and timer settings cause a lot of false no-heat calls, and this check costs nothing.
Next move: The problem was a setting issue or a stuck timed cycle. Keep using the lower oven and watch for the problem returning. If the lower oven still stays cold or barely warms, move on to the heating-pattern check.
What to conclude: You have ruled out the easiest false alarm before getting into parts.
You want to know whether the lower oven can make any heat at all. That tells you whether to suspect the bake element first or look higher up the chain.
Next move: If broil works but bake does not, you have a strong lower oven bake element branch. If neither bake nor broil in the lower oven heats, the problem is less likely to be just the bake element.
What to conclude: Bake-only failure usually points to the lower oven bake element. No heat in any lower-oven mode pushes you toward the sensor, wiring, or a control-side fault.
A lower oven that gets warm but not right is a different problem than one that stays stone cold. That difference matters.
Next move: If the lower oven is heating but running clearly low, the sensor or door-seal issue is more likely than a dead element. If the lower oven remains fully cold, go back to the element-versus-control question.
By now you should have enough pattern evidence to avoid guess-buying.
Next move: You move forward with the part that matches the actual symptom instead of the most expensive guess. If your symptom does not fit the element or sensor cleanly, the remaining suspect is usually a lower-oven control or wiring problem that is better confirmed by a tech.
A good repair is not finished until the lower oven preheats, cycles, and holds temperature the way it should.
A good result: The lower oven is back in service and you have a clear fix.
If not: Do not keep swapping parts. The next step is a professional diagnosis of the lower oven control circuit and wiring.
What to conclude: When the supported parts do not solve it, the fault has moved beyond the common homeowner-level fixes.
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That usually means the problem is local to the lower oven, not the house power. The most common homeowner-level causes are a wrong lower-oven setting, a failed lower oven bake element, or a lower oven temperature sensor that is reading wrong.
Yes. On many ovens, a failed lower oven bake element makes the cavity stay cold or only slightly warm during bake, even though the display and light still work. If lower broil still heats, that is a strong clue.
Sometimes, but not always. Slight heat with long preheat times can still be an element issue, especially if part of the lower oven bake element is burned out. If the temperature is just consistently wrong, the lower oven temperature sensor becomes more likely.
Not first. Control problems do happen, but they are not the best first guess when the lower oven alone is affected. Rule out settings, the lower oven bake element, and the lower oven temperature sensor before spending money on electronics.
Usually yes, if there is no breaker tripping, burning smell, sparking, or visible wire damage. If any of those show up, shut the whole unit off and stop using both cavities until it is checked.