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 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.