Product review (5 stars): * The Firemen Gave Me Some Great Advice *
OK, here's my story.  I was getting ready to make my wonderful gluten free chocolate chip cookies, when Pee Yew!!!  The kitchen was Filled with Smoke!!  The smoke detectors (God awful Loud) went off!!  The bake element in the oven was on fire and shooting sparks and flames inside the oven.  My sister ran over, turned off the oven and I ran out and flipped the breaker off for the oven.  Despite that, flames and sparks still kept shooting in the oven, until it went all the way "around" the element.  We called the local fire department, to be on the safe side and have them check it out.  We knew it would go out by itself, but we wanted to be safe.  We're only a few blocks from our expensive new 2 story fire department and ambulance services and we're paying for it with our tax dollars (which had a big hike), so we might as well use the services.  Right?  They sent 3 guys over to check on it and of course it had gone out.  We had opened the patio door and windows to air the smoke out, but kept the oven door shut.  The oven was 15 years old, so we're figuring, "We've got to buy a new stove!"  The last couple times we had the appliance repairman to fix anything on the stove, it was $125.00 to replace a screw in the oven door that fell out.  5 months later, the same screw fell out, because he put too short of a screw in, to replace the lost screw.  He only lives a few blocks away, so you'd think he's do it free, since it was his fault, right??  NO!!  He charged  $85 for the service call to drive 4 blocks and replace the screw that he had put in too short.  So, we spent $210.00 to replace ONE SCREW in the oven door!!  I think you can see who got screwed there!!  So, I'm thinking, "For sure, we'll need a new oven."  I told the older fireman that the appliance repairman just costs too much and I'm going to have to buy a new stove.  He said, "No, you don't.  You're stove looks like new.  Everything is in great shape.  You guys have really taken care of it.  All you have to do, is take out 2 screws, pull the bake element out a few inches and unplug it, so as not to damage the wires.  Then get a new element and plug it in."  I thought, "I should be able to do something as simple as that, even if I am 64 years old and disabled."

So, went online to Whirlpool's site (don't buy any parts there, because they are HIGH) and I got the part number.  Then I came on Amazon and purchased it.  It arrived super fast.  I suppose they know people probably need the parts quickly.  It took longer to get the old one out (remember, it had been there 15 years & one of them was a bit stubborn), but the new one went on in a flash.  It's been working fantastic.  It costs me $16.98 and only took a few minutes and a screwdriver.  I called the appliance repairman and "asked" what it would costs to repair.  He said the part costs him $84 (Right!!) and there's the service call and labor, so it would be somewhere around $300 and tax.  JEESH!!!!!  The firemen lit up when I mentioned I was making chocolate chip cookies, so I'm going to make them a big batch of cookies and take down to them and the EMS workers.  They saved me a ton of money by telling me how to replace the bake element myself.  I would have never known it was so easy.  I have two burners that aren't working very well.  One will be $12.99 and the big one $18.99.  So for about $50, I'll have everything on my oven working great for at least a couple more years and by then I'll find a really good deal on a new one.  You never can find a good deal, when you're in a big hurry to buy something.

When the fireman were there, they moved the stove and unplugged it.  They said they didn't want it plugged back in, until the bake element was replaced or it would create a fire hazard.  My sister was getting panicky, "What will we fix our food on, if we don't have the burners?"  I told her we had the microwave and grill and I'd figure something out.  She was still worried we'd have to eat canned food (which we don't do.)  I remembered a smokeless indoor ceramic grill I had in the basement, that goes on your tabletop.  I brought that up, we scrambled our eggs, fixed turkey bacon and grilled steaks on it.  So, we learned a lot from this.  You can do a lot of things, yourself.  Just look on the internet for how to do it or watch a video, then go to the manufacturer's site to get the part number.  Also, I had no idea where the MODEL number was located on the oven.  On most ovens, it's on the left hand side, when you open the door, or on the left side of the open drawer.  The manufacturer's website will tell you exactly where to look for that model number and you need that, whether your looking for stove, refrigerator, washer or whatever parts.  I'm ready to tackle anything now.  Almost!!!