Induction Hob Not Working? Start With the Pan, Not the Hob

October 17, 2026

Induction hobs fail differently from every other appliance in a kitchen, and that catches people out. A gas hob either lights or it doesn't. An induction hob can be in perfect working order and still appear completely dead — because induction only works when the conditions are right, and it refuses rather than struggles.

Which is good news. A large share of "my induction hob has broken" turns out to be something you can fix in two minutes without paying anyone.

Start here: the magnet test

Induction does not heat the hob. It creates a magnetic field that heats the pan. If the pan is not magnetic, nothing happens at all — no warmth, no reaction, and on most hobs an error symbol or a beep after a few seconds.

Take a fridge magnet and stick it to the base of the pan.

It grips firmly — the pan works on induction.
It falls off or barely holds — that pan will never work, and there is nothing wrong with your hob.

Aluminium, copper and most glass or ceramic pans will not work. Plenty of stainless steel will not either, depending on the alloy. Cast iron always works. If a set of pans came with you from a gas kitchen, assume some of them are now ornaments.

Two subtler versions of the same problem catch people out even with the right pans:

The pan is too small for the zone. Every zone has a minimum detection size, often around 12cm. A small milk pan on a large zone may simply not register.
The base is warped. Induction needs flat contact. An old pan with a bowed base will work intermittently or not at all.

Then: is it actually getting power?

This is the second big one, and it is almost always an installation problem rather than a fault.

Induction hobs draw a lot of current. A full-size four-zone hob typically needs its own dedicated circuit — commonly 32A — wired directly to the consumer unit. They are not plug-in appliances.

If a hob was fitted on an undersized circuit, or shares one with the oven, you get symptoms that look like a broken hob: it works on one zone but trips when you use two, it cuts out partway through cooking, or it dies entirely when the oven comes on.

What to check:

Has the breaker tripped at the consumer unit? Reset it once. If it trips straight back, stop and call an electrician — that is a real fault.
Is there an isolator switch above the worktop or in a nearby cupboard? These get knocked off, and get turned off by cleaners, decorators and children.
Did this start after other electrical work?

Anything beyond resetting a breaker is an electrician's job. A hob circuit carries enough current to be genuinely dangerous.

Then: the lock

Nearly every induction hob has a child lock, and nearly every induction hob owner has at some point phoned an engineer about it.

Look for a key or padlock symbol lit on the control panel. Unlocking is usually a press-and-hold on a dedicated lock key for three to five seconds, but it varies — check your manual.

Worth knowing: many hobs lock themselves automatically if the controls are wiped while wet, or if something is resting on the panel. A tea towel on the hob will do it. So will a spill the controls read as a continuous press.

Which leads to the other everyday one: induction controls do not work through water. A wet or greasy panel, or wet fingers, and the touch controls simply stop responding. Dry it properly and try again.

Error codes: what they mean in practice

Here is the honest position on error codes — they are not standardised. E2 on a Smeg does not necessarily mean E2 on a CDA or a Bosch. Anyone presenting you with a universal code table is guessing.

What is reasonably consistent is the families of fault. Find your code in the manual, but these are the categories you'll land in:

Family of fault	What's happening	What to do
No pan / unsuitable pan	The hob can't detect suitable cookware on the zone	Magnet test, check pan size against the zone
Overheating	The electronics beneath the glass are too hot and have shut down to protect themselves	Switch off, let it cool fully, check the ventilation gap isn't blocked
Voltage error	Supply is outside the range the hob will accept	Electrician — often an installation or supply issue
Sensor fault	A temperature sensor has failed or disconnected	Engineer
Fan fault	The cooling fan has failed, so the hob derates or shuts down	Engineer
Control / touch fault	The control panel isn't reading correctly	Clean and dry first; if it persists, engineer

Overheating deserves a note, because it is commonly misdiagnosed as a dying hob. Induction electronics sit directly under the glass and are cooled by a fan. If the hob is installed above an oven without the specified clearance, or the ventilation slot is blocked by worktop or a drawer, it will overheat and cut out repeatedly — while being a perfectly healthy appliance badly installed.

Things that are not faults

Four behaviours that generate a lot of unnecessary call-outs:

Buzzing or humming. Normal, particularly at high power and with lighter multi-ply pans. It is the pan base vibrating in the magnetic field, not the hob failing. Heavier pans buzz less.

The fan running after you've switched off. Also normal. It is cooling the electronics and may run for several minutes.

Zones losing power when you use several at once. Most hobs share a power budget between paired zones. Put two pans on the wrong pair and both run at reduced power. It's a design limit, not a fault — the manual will show which zones are paired.

The hob staying hot after cooking. The glass picks up residual heat from the pan. The H symbol is telling you it's hot, which is a safety feature doing its job.

When it is genuinely broken

Call an engineer when you have ruled out pans, power, lock and cleaning, and one of these is true:

The glass is cracked — stop using it immediately, as moisture reaching the electronics beneath is a serious shock risk
One zone has died while the others work normally
It trips the breaker repeatedly
An error code persists after a full power-down and cool
It switches itself off mid-cooking with correct ventilation

On cost: an induction hob is mostly electronics, and the main board is usually the expensive part — frequently £200 or more fitted. Against a new hob at £300–£600, repair is often marginal once the hob is past about seven years old. A cracked glass top is almost never worth repairing.

If you're replacing

Things worth getting right:

Measure the cut-out, not the hob. The aperture in your worktop is the constraint, and it varies between brands even at the same nominal width.
Confirm the circuit. If your old hob was gas or ceramic, you may not have a suitable supply, and that's an electrician's quote before you order anything.
Check the ventilation requirement against what's underneath. Hob-over-oven installations have specific clearances.
Consider a venting hob if extraction is awkward — it pulls steam downwards and removes the need for a hood.

Our induction hobs and the wider hob range are all new with manufacturer warranty and free UK delivery. Send us your worktop cut-out measurements and we'll tell you honestly what will fit.

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