Electric Cooktop (Radiant)

Overview

A radiant electric cooktop heats cookware through a smooth glass-ceramic surface. Under each marked zone sits a coiled resistance element that glows red when powered; its heat radiates up through the glass into the pan. Unlike induction, it works with any flat pan, and unlike a gas hob it presents a single sealed surface that wipes clean.

The visible part is the Ceramic-Glass Top, a low-expansion glass-ceramic panel that tolerates the sharp temperature gradient between a glowing zone and the cool surround without cracking. Below it, the Radiant Heat Zones carry the radiant elements seated in insulating dishes that aim their heat upward. A flush Touch Control Board board reads finger taps through the glass, and Hot-Surface Indicators keep a warning lamp lit until each cooled zone is safe to touch. The whole stack drops into a steel Frame & Base that clips to the countertop.

The glass-ceramic's near-zero thermal expansion is what lets a 2 kW element glow directly beneath it.

How it works

Each Radiant Element is a nichrome ribbon coiled on a compacted insulation base. When energized it heats almost instantly to a glow and radiates infrared up through the transparent glass into the pan bottom. Power isn't continuously variable at the element; instead the Element Switching stage pulses it on and off, through a per-zone Relay and an energy regulator, and the ratio of on-time to off-time sets the apparent power level.

The cook sets that level on the Touch Control Board board. Its capacitive Touch Digitizer senses a fingertip through the glass, the Microcontroller converts taps into a 0–9 power level per zone, and a small LED display echoes the setting. Two safety devices protect each zone: a Temperature Limiter caps the surface temperature so the glass is never overheated, and a one-shot Thermal Fuse permanently opens the circuit if a fault drives a zone past its limit.

Because the glass and element store real heat, each zone stays dangerous after switch-off. A residual-heat sensor under every zone holds its Hot-Surface Lamp lit until the surface drops below about 60 °C, warning against a burn long after the power is cut.