Electric defrost devices used on evaporators are classified as which type of heating element?

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Electric defrost devices rely on resistance heating. The defrost element is a resistive heating element—a wire or strip that resists the electrical current and converts electrical energy into heat to melt frost on the evaporator. A thermostat is just a sensor/control that turns heaters on or off based on temperature, not the heating element itself. A transformer changes voltage and doesn’t serve as a heat source. So the heating element used for electric defrost is best described as a resistor, a resistive heating element.