Smeg oven symbols and what they mean
Smeg put their function symbols on a knob rather than a screen, and use one symbol set across ovens and range cookers. Two of them are not functions at all.
What it usually means
Smeg build their controls around a dial. On most of their ovens and range cookers the functions are engraved round a rotary selector rather than listed on a display, so there is no menu to scroll and no words to read — just a ring of small pictures, and no explanation within reach. That is why this is one of the most searched-for symbol sets in the country, and it is also why the same symbols turn up on a Smeg range cooker as on a Smeg built-in oven. The appliances are different; the symbol vocabulary is shared, which is why this page sits with the range cookers where our Smeg pages live.
The symbols themselves are diagrams of where the heat comes from, and they follow the same logic every European manufacturer uses without any of them having agreed on it. Lines at the top and bottom of the outline are the upper and lower elements — both together is static or conventional heat. A fan in the middle means circulated air, and a fan with lines means circulated air plus elements. A zigzag along the top is the grill, and a zigzag with a fan below it is a fan-assisted grill. Smeg also badge combinations with names of their own on some models, and where a symbol on your knob does not match this description, the manual for that model number is the authority rather than any general guide, including this one.
Two things on a Smeg are worth knowing that no symbol chart will tell you. The first is SHO. That is showroom mode: the oven lights, the panel responds and the appliance never heats, because it is set up to be demonstrated in a shop rather than to cook. It is switched on at home by an unlucky button sequence and it looks exactly like a failed element.
The second is the pyrolytic door lock. On a self-cleaning Smeg the door locks itself for the clean and stays locked until the cavity has cooled, and if the lock does not engage properly the oven reports it and refuses to start the cycle. Smeg publish ten pyrolytic codes and confirm that every one of them needs an engineer, which makes them the group where knowing the meaning saves you a wasted afternoon rather than a repair bill.
How to narrow it down
Work through these in order.
Is the display showing SHO?
That is showroom mode and there is nothing wrong with the oven. It exists so a retailer can demonstrate the appliance without heating it, so everything responds normally and nothing ever gets warm. Switching it off is a button sequence documented for your model, and it costs nothing.
Is it a fan symbol, with or without lines?
A fan on its own circulates air. A fan with a line above and below adds the elements, which is the fan-assisted setting most recipes assume when they tell you to reduce the temperature by twenty degrees. If your dial has both, they are genuinely different settings rather than two drawings of the same one.
Is it a zigzag?
The grill. On its own it is radiant heat from above, which browns and sears rather than cooking through. Combined with a fan symbol it becomes a fan grill, moving hot air over the food as well, which is what you want for a thicker cut that needs to cook through without the surface burning.
Is the oven locked and will not open after a clean?
A pyrolytic cycle takes the cavity to several hundred degrees and the door stays locked until it has cooled, which can be well over an hour after the cycle itself has ended. That is the mechanism working. Do not lever at the door: the hinges give way long before the lock does.
Is a control stuck, or does the panel keep beeping?
Smeg report a control being held on continuously, which in practice means spilt liquid on a touch panel or something resting against a knob. Wipe the panel dry and check nothing on the worktop is leaning on the controls before treating it as a fault, because this one clears itself once the cause is removed.
Is it a letter and a number rather than a picture?
Then you have a fault code rather than a function symbol, and Smeg publish a specific meaning for most of them — including several where they name the part outright. Look yours up rather than working from a general symbol chart, because the two sets of markings have nothing to do with each other.
Do you still have the manual?
If not, find the model number on the rating plate, which on a Smeg is usually on the door frame or behind the door of the appliance, and download it. Smeg publish manuals for current and discontinued models, and for a dial-controlled oven the manual is the only complete key to your particular symbol set.
Codes commonly shown with this
- E9SmegSmeg name the part outright: the inductor temperature sensor is defective. It is the sensor that makes the hob’s own over-temperature protection possible.Get it checked
- EASmegA power circuit board error on the induction hob. Rangemaster publish an EA too, describing something different, so check which brand’s table you are reading.Get it checked
- ERR4SmegThe pyrolytic door lock has not attached to the door, often because the door was opened while it was locking. Smeg publish a real owner remedy.Get it checked
- SHOSmegNot a fault at all. The oven is in showroom mode, so the control panel works and no heating is possible. Smeg publish how to switch it off.Usually simple to fix
- Pyrolytic oven codesSmegSmeg publish ten pyrolytic oven codes and confirm every one needs an engineer, but they do not say what any of them mean. We are not inventing meanings.Get it checked
When it is urgent
Take care
What it costs
Typical repair cost
£0–£240
Typical UK prices including parts and labour, updated September 2026. Your quote may differ.
Get an engineer to look at this
We do not pass enquiries to a repair firm, so there is no form here. When you book a qualified appliance engineer, tell them the make, the model and the exact code or message on the display, and ask whether they carry parts for this make — that is what turns one visit into a repair rather than a quote.
Technical review
Not reviewed by an engineer
No engineer has read this page. Severity follows what the manufacturer publishes, and we would rather tell you that than let a byline imply a sign-off.