Patent ID: 8344292

Claim:
A cooking appliance, comprising: a cooktop including a plurality of separately controlled cooking areas; a first heating element positioned below one of the separately controlled cooking areas; a second heating element positioned below the same separately controlled cooking area as the first heating element; and a control switch electrically coupled to the first heating element and the second heating element; wherein the control switch is operable to selectively energize the first heating element with single-phase AC power and selectively energize the second heating element with two-phase AC power, wherein the control switch is positionable in at least (i) a first temperature adjustment zone in which only the first heating element is energized, (ii) a second temperature adjustment zone in which both the first heating element and the second heating element are simultaneously energized, and (iii) a home position in which both the first heating element and the second heating element are de-energized; wherein the control switch is operable to electrically couple a first electrical line and a neutral electrical line across the first heating element and electrically couple the first electrical line and a second electrical line across the second heating element.