Repair 10-Year-Old Stove: Is It Worth It? Costs, Common Issues, and When to Replace

When your stove, a kitchen appliance used for cooking with electric or gas heating elements. Also known as a cooktop or range, it hits the 10-year mark, you start asking: is this thing still worth fixing? Most stoves last 10 to 15 years, but that doesn’t mean they all die at exactly 12. Some keep going with simple fixes. Others are just waiting to break down again—costing you more in repairs than a new one would. The real question isn’t how old it is—it’s what’s broken, how much it’ll cost to fix, and whether you’re just delaying the inevitable.

Common problems in older stoves include heating elements, the coils or burners that generate heat inside the oven or on the cooktop that stop working, thermostats, the control that senses and regulates oven temperature that go off-kilter, or a control board, the electronic brain that manages settings and power distribution that fries from age and heat cycles. These aren’t rare issues—they show up over and over in repair logs. If your oven takes forever to heat up, heats unevenly, or won’t turn on at all, it’s likely one of these parts. Replacing a heating element costs $50–$150. A new thermostat runs $75–$200. But if the control board is bad? That’s $300–$500, and you’re paying close to half the price of a new stove.

Here’s the hard truth: if your stove is 10 years old and you’re already fixing it for the third time, you’re probably throwing money into a sinking ship. Newer models use 15–20% less energy, have better safety features, and come with warranties. A $600 repair on a 10-year-old stove doesn’t make sense when you can get a reliable new one for $800–$1,200 that’ll last another 12 years. But if it’s just a broken element or a faulty igniter? That’s an easy fix. Check the cost of parts and labor first. If it’s under $250 and the rest of the stove looks and runs fine, go ahead. If it’s more than that? Think twice.

You’ll find real stories below—from people who fixed their 10-year-old stoves and saved hundreds, to others who replaced them and wished they’d done it sooner. We’ve got guides on testing oven elements, diagnosing thermostat problems, and spotting when your stove is past its prime. No fluff. Just what actually matters when you’re deciding whether to repair or replace.