How Does a Heating Element Work?
A heating element converts electrical current to heat by passing electrons through a wire with high resistance to electrical current flow. This process is known as Joule heating. Joule heating occurs when the electrons in an electric current flows through a conductor such as Nickel-Chromium alloy wire in a heating element. The electrons collide with the conductor's atoms and these collisions generate friction at the atomic level, which is produces heat.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Electric heating elements work by sending a stream of electrical current through a high-resistance wire that heats up as electrons collide with current-resistant metal.
- Learn how various appliance heating elements work and about the systems in appliances that control the elements.
- When a heating element fails to work in your appliance, follow our expert tips to diagnose and repair the failure or have a Sears Home Services technician fix the appliance.
Many home appliances use heating elements. We’ll look at the different types of heating elements in appliances and how they work.
How Does an Oven Heating Element Work?
An electric heating element in an oven consists of:
- Connection terminals.
- Internal Nickel-Chromium element wire.
- Insulation (typically Magnesium-Oxide).
- Outer metal sheath.
Electrical current enters the terminals and collide with the atoms in the Nickel-Chromium element wire – producing heat. The heat radiates outward through the insulation to the metal sheath which turns red hot. The metal sheath heats the air inside the oven cavity.
The control system of the oven monitors temperature inside the oven cavity through a sensor and turns the element on and off to maintain the set temperature. Most ovens use an electronic control board to cycle the element on and off to regulate temperature.
When the heating element in your oven isn’t working, a number of different problems in the heating system could be causing the problem. You can learn more about how an oven heating element works and get common sense troubleshooting tips for fixing a problem with your oven not heating in this helpful video:
Even if you don’t have a heating problem in your oven right now, you can learn a lot about how a heating element works in an oven from that video.
How Does a Dryer Heating Element Work?
Although different in composition and application, a clothes dryer heating element heats in the same manner as the oven element. Electrical current flows through a Nickel-Chromium element wire to produce heat. The element wire is surrounded by insulation and a sheath. The fan in the dryer blows air over the element and then into the dryer drum to heat the clothes.
Many control components and safety devices control the heating element in a clothes dryer. To get an idea of how the entire heating system works in a common type of dryer, watch this popular YouTube video that shows how to safely troubleshoot a heating failure:
Seeing the diagrams and explanations of components will help you understand how a clothes dryer heating element works even if you don’t have a current problem.
How a Refrigerator Defrost Heater Works
Yes, a refrigerator has a heating element that must work correctly for the fridge to cool properly. Of course, we have a video that shows the inner workings of the defrost heater control system in common refrigerators so you can understand how the defrost heater works. Here’s the video:
The defrost systems in refrigerators vary by model. When you’re unable to determine the cause of a heating failure in your refrigerator, schedule refrigerator repair service and we’ll send a Sears Home Services technician to your home to fix the problem.
How Does a Dishwasher Heating Element Work?
A dishwasher heating element heats in the same manner as the other heating element discussed above. The inner Nickel-Chromium element wire is surrounded by Magnesium-Oxide insulating material and covered by a metal sheath. The control system activates the heating element to heat water and air inside the dishwasher tub to help clean and dry the dishes. When you suspect that the dishwasher heating element isn’t working because dishes aren’t drying, follow the tips in this helpful video to find the cause of the heating problem in a common type of dishwasher:
If you’re unable to find and fix the cause of the dishwasher drying problem yourself, schedule dishwasher repair service and we’ll send a Sears Home Services technician to repair the drying issue.
How Does a Hot Water Heater Heating Element Work?
A water heater has an immersion heating element that is constantly or often exposed to or immersed in water. This type of immersion heater has a more substantial metal sheath around the inner element heating wire. The sheath on an immersion heater is a hot water heater is often made of stainless steel so it won’t corrode or fail.
Many control systems on water heater work the same. To understand how the immersion heater in a water heater works, watch this popular troubleshooting video that provides animations and diagrams to explain how to fix a water heater that isn’t heating:
When you’re unable to fix a water heating problem on your own, schedule water heater repair service and we’ll dispatch a Sears Home Services technician to your home to fix the water heater.
How a Washer Heating Element Works
Some washing machines have immersion heating elements to heat water for high-temperature and sanitation cycles. Immersion heaters in washers are similar to the heating elements in water heaters but they’re smaller and less powerful.
When the heating element in a washer fails, you’ll likely see an error code on the control panel indicating that the electronic control board detects the failure because the element isn’t heating the water in the washer tub. When you see an error code on your washer, look up the code on our error code troubleshooting charts and follow the expert tips to try and correct the problem. If you’re unable to resolve the issue on your own, schedule washer repair service and we’ll send a Sears Home Services technician to your home to fix the washing machine.
How Does a Cooktop Surface Burner Element Work?
Cooktops and ranges have 3 different types of elements that work in different ways.
How Coil Surface Burner Elements Work
Coil surface burner elements are very similar to the oven bake elements described above. An element wire of Nickel-Chromium is surrounded by Magnesium-Oxide and the element is covered by a metal sheath. Coil surface burners are easy to access and replace, but a bad burner switch or a wiring failure could be preventing the element from heating. Here’s a video that shows how the surface element heating system works and how to troubleshoot a coil surface element failure:
If you’re unable to find and fix the cause of the element failure on your own, schedule range repair service and we’ll send a service technician to your home to resolve the issue.
How a Radiant Surface Element Works on a Glass Top Range or Cooktop
The control system for a radiant surface element in a ceramic glass top range or cooktop is similar to the coil surface burner control system. The surface element attached to the bottom of the glass ceramic top is much different. A thin coil of insulated element wire snakes through channels in the ceramic plate of the radiant surface element. The wire element coils heat the ceramic glass surface while the ceramic plate below the coils prevent heat from penetrating the inside of the cooktop or range. To protect the ceramic glass cooktop, radiant surface elements use a high-temperature limit switch that shuts off the element when to prevent the glass surface from overheating and cracking.
The surface elements in a glass top range or cooktop are more difficult to access and a bit more complicated to diagnose. Here’s a video that shows how the heating system works and how to diagnose a heating element failure in a glass top range or cooktop:
If you’re not confident that you can fix a radiant surface element failure on your own, schedule cooktop repair service and we’ll send a Sears Home Services technician to your home to repair the issue.
How an Induction Surface Element Works
Induction cooktops generate heat directly within the cookware using an electro-magnetic field. This process keeps the cooktop surface cool and reduces the risk of burns.
- Magnetic Fields in Action: Beneath the cooktop’s surface lies a copper coil that generates a magnetic field when activated. This field only activates when induction-compatible cookware, typically made of magnetic materials like cast iron or certain stainless steels, is placed on the marked cooktop surface directly above the induction element.
- Heat Transfer Through Magnetic Energy: When the cookware interacts with the magnetic field, it creates an electric current within the pot or pan. This current generates heat directly in the bottom surface of the cookware, transferring it straight to the food inside the cookware without heating the cooktop’s surface.
Induction cooktops have numerous electronic control boards and complicated control systems for the surface elements. When an induction surface element fails to heat, it’s best to have an experienced range repair technician diagnose and fix the problem.
Sears Home Services is your best source for appliance repair when an element fails to heat. We have technicians that are highly-trained and experienced in repairing all brands and types of appliances. We’re your trusted source any appliance service need.
Schedule your kitchen appliance repair now!
From refrigerators to dishwashers, our experienced technicians are equipped to repair all your kitchen appliances, providing fast and reliable service.
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Glossary Terms
Wattage is the measure of electrical power expressed in watts (W), indicating the rate at which a device consumes energy.
Natural gas is a fossil fuel used primarily for heating, cooking, and electricity generation. It's a hydrocarbon gas mixture consisting mainly of methane, but it also contains smaller amounts of other hydrocarbons and sometimes sulfur compounds.
A washer screw is a fastening device that combines a screw and a washer, designed to distribute the load of a screwed fastening more evenly and to prevent the screw from loosening under vibration.
A voltage meter, commonly referred to as a voltmeter, is an instrument used for measuring the electrical potential difference, or voltage, between two points in an electrical or electronic circuit.
Common Appliance Symptoms
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