WordNet
n. the component of a heater or range that transforms fuel or electricity into heat
Wikipedia
A heating element converts electricity into heat through the process of resistive or Joule heating. Electric current passing through the element encounters resistance, resulting in heating of the element. Unlike the Peltier Effect, this process is independent of the direction of current flow.
Usage examples of "heating element".
The heating element , an exposed metal coil that would radiate like a stovetop, was on one side of the base.
These modifications involve installing a simple resistance heating element in the fuel tank, very similar to the ones used in engine blocks for winter weather.
When the engine is not running, the heating element can be connected to an electrical outlet, to maintain a hot liquid oil temperature in the fuel tank and fuel system.
They were conserving the one flashlight they found, using their little bit of power to run a heating element.
At least Fairman had had the sense to turn off the heating element, he thought.
He dove and leveled out at ten feet while he vented the air from his dry suit and waited to see if its heating element was compensating for the frigid drop in temperature.
Its integral heating element stank with only the empty container to absorb its energy.
Something awfully cold closed in on me then, as if I were still in space and the heating element in my suit had quit.
He heard a momentary hiss as the cold water struck whatever it was his crew chief had installed in the drum to heat the water, and he remembered that the crew chief had sternly warned him never to use all the water in the drum, otherwise the heating element would burn out.