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Wall oven selection (self.homeimprovement)

submitted 4 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) by lemmyman to c/homeimprovement

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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.

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[–] evasive_chimpanzee 3 points 3 days ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 days ago (2 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 days ago (1 children)

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.

[–] lemmyman 2 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago

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.

[–] lemmyman 3 points 4 days ago

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...

[–] CarbonatedPastaSauce 5 points 4 days ago (1 children)

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.

[–] evasive_chimpanzee 1 points 3 days ago

Sounds like a nickel sulfide inclusion.