My wall oven went kaput - it had a good run (I think it’s original with the house, from 1960. Or at least from the 80s. It has a mechanical timer!). But the heating element melted itself and I’m not really up for trying to find a replacement for that.
So I’m in the market for a new wall oven and seeking input. Key specs:
- It’s a 24" single wall oven. Cutout is 22.5" wide, 28.5" high, and 25" deep.
- Electric power, 240V/30A circuit
- I only care about baking and broiling. Steam, air fry, wifi, rotisserie are all zero-to-negative for me.
- I would prefer physical dials and buttons but that seems uncommon these days
- I wouldn’t want to go much more expensive than the options I’ve found (see below).
I’ve found two that seem like a native fit:
- GE JRS06SKSS
- The installation manual shows that this needs a cabinet cutout below the unit, which I don’t want to do because I have existing drawers there
- Frigidaire GCWS2438AF
- This seems to fit my cutout without modification, so I’ll probably buy this unless I find something better
Most other 24" models are designed for a shorter ~23" cutout, which is unfortunate because there are some substantially cheaper options (like $500 vs. $1700). For example the Empava EMPV-24WOB14, and some others from Magic Chef, Cosmo, and various other brands I’ve never heard of. It’s maybe possible that I could build a nook above or below the oven, or a trim piece covering the opening. But I’d kind of just rather not.
Any thoughts on my best options here?
Edit to add: I opted to look harder for a replacement heating element, and after a long slog through a lot of appliance parts websites that don’t offer many specs for their parts, I finally found a couple options that look like they will work at www.therm-coil.com, where it seems that every heating element they offer is listed with cross-references, dimensions, and terminal style. Like, all the stuff that should be listed on all the other sites but never is.
Not to try to oversell you or anything, but I wouldn’t write out ovens that have convection capability (often marketed these days as airfry). They cook faster, with more even temperature, and it’s literally just a fan to blow air around. It shouldn’t really have much effect on the price. I think it should theoretically make the temperature oscillation much lower, too. Personally, my dumb oven swings by like plus and minus 50 degrees F with a 25 degree offset. So if I want 350, it will bounce from 275 to 375. Newer, smarter ovens can have better control methods to maintain temp.
If your current oven heating element melted itself, I would suspect that there’s something wrong with the thermostat, so there may be additional parts that need replacing.
Not to dissuade you from upgrading at all, but it should be very easy to find a replacement element. I just replaced one in a 30 year old oven for about $22 on Amazon. The tech really hasn’t changed much, just need the right shape.
If you decide to upgrade, look for a convection oven, but make sure it’s fully configurable. With countertoo versions, some never turn off the fan completely. I could see similar stupid design happening in full size units.
I have a 1955 GE wall oven in my home I use. My oven’s heating element was pretty trivial to replace and was about 20$ on Amazon. I also have a mechanical timer and the oven is bright pink.
Did you have to finagle with the element at all to get it in?
Mine has a terminal pitch of 16 inch, and the only dimensioned elements I’ve seen so far with a similar shape are 18". I could flex it a bit I suppose.
Also most I have seen have quick-connect/Faston terminals, whereas my oven has screw terminals. Less of a problem than dimensions I suppose.
Yes, mine was a faston type terminal that was pretty simple to insert. Then 2 screws to hold it in place. Mine was 18.5" x 19.5" and the socket was low down with the heating element.
I think I will take a closer look at elements before pulling the trigger. Thanks for the nudge. I wish listings offered more than a photo and part number though - like maybe at least the width.
Just wish I would have paused to do that before I pulled the old one out…
Only a recommendation against. I bought a KitchenAid KODE500ESS double wall oven and apparently it comes free with a whole pile of regret.
The upper oven glass exploded while cooking baked potatoes the first week I had it. Shit happens but the hoops I had to jump through to get a new oven were just ridiculous. But I did eventually get one.
The glass on the bottom oven exploded right before I sold the property less than a year later. It had never been cooked in. I opened the door to check it and closed the door (normally) at which point it detonated itself.
I had to threaten KitchenAid with CFPB and my state attorney general to fix the second one under warranty. They wanted $900 before they caved because “oven glass is not a functional item and not covered under warranty”.
Just don’t buy from them. They are out to screw their customers.
Sounds like a nickel sulfide inclusion.