referring now to the drawings wherein like reference numerals are used throughout the various views to designate like parts and , more particularly , to fig1 and 2 , according to these figures , in accordance with the present invention , an electrical heating element 1 includes a heat conductor generally designated by the reference numeral 2 &# 39 ; with , initially , one or more rows of meander - shaped windings 2 made of an electrical resistance wire . the legs of one winding 2 are longer than a distance between them . the windings 2 are mounted on a first insulating plate 3 in the following manner . more particularly , the insulating plate 3 has openings 4 separated from another by solid parts 6 , with one end 7 of the winding passing through an opening 4 , and then being guided around a solid part 6 , and emerging through an adjacent opening 4 . insulating plate 3 and heat conductor 2 &# 39 ; with windings 2 can be assembled in such fashion that insulating plate 3 is guided with its openings over the ends 8 of windings 2 which are away from ends 7 . an additional heating plate 9 is placed on the side of insulating plate 3 which faces away from heat conductor 2 &# 39 ;. the heating element described thus far is stiffened and , in particular , the two insulating plates 3 , 9 are held together , by a reinforcing rail generally designated by the reference numeral 11 which extends on the side of insulating plates 3 , 9 facing away from heat conductor 2 and has a main part 12 extending over the entire width of insulating plates 3 , 9 , and has tabs 17 on its lengthwise edges , bent around lengthwise edges 13 , 14 of insulating plates 3 , 9 through approximately 180 ° up to the top 16 of insulating plate 3 . this holds plates 3 , 9 firmly together and stabilizes the entire heating element 1 . initially terminals generally designated by the reference numeral 24 with contact tabs 22 , 23 are located at one end generally designated by the reference numeral 21 of heating element 1 , with the terminals being electrically connected with heat conductor 2 &# 39 ; and serving to connect heat conductor 2 &# 39 ; as electrical connectors . the rows of meanders are brought into contact as follows . in the end area of upper insulating plate 3 , an insulating solid part 19 ( fig2 ), delimited by two slots 18 , is provided flush with the row of meanders . on this insulating solid part 19 rests a connecting part 24 , u - shaped in vertical section , with a bottom solid part 29 which has a tab 36 that fits laterally into slot 18 and fits around insulating solid part 19 . in addition , on connecting part 24 on the one side , one of contact tabs 22 or 23 is provided for connection of connecting leads and on the other side a crimping part 37 is provided for connection to the end 38 of one row of windings . the end 38 of the row of windings is brought out for a short distance through a last opening 4 in insulating plate 3 and between legs 39 of crimping part 37 , said legs gripping it firmly after they are crushed . as shown n fig1 and 2 , the rail is likewise provided with a terminal 28 on the first end 21 of heating element 1 , with the terminal being riveted to the rail 11 , for example . in a vicinity of the end 26 facing away from end 21 , the heat conductor 2 &# 39 ; is electrically connected with the rail 11 , for example , by a rivet or basically in the manner described above for connector 24 , with a connecting part 27 which firmly grips a raised tab 68 on tail 11 by a crimping part 67 . thus , the rail 11 serves as a return conductor , so that in the embodiment shown , depending on how the connecting lead connected to contact tabs 22 , 23 , 28 is wired to a power supply , the two rows of heat conductor 2 &# 39 ; can be optionally connected individually or jointly . in addition , if desired , one row of the heat conductor 2 &# 39 ; can be used by the central terminal 28 as a lead resistor for a motor , for example , a fan motor . with one row of windings , by virtue of the provisions described above , a contact made from heat conductor 2 at end 26 which faces away from first end 21 , can permit unilateral connection of the power supply to first end 21 . it is especially evident from fig2 that rail 11 has openings 31 in the solid parts 32 on the side facing away from heat conductor 2 &# 39 ;. this construction especially improves the compensation of the different thermal expansion behavior of insulating plates 3 , 9 and rail 11 . in addition , with a suitable arrangement of solid parts 32 , with suitable installation conditions , this arrangement can serve possibly to do away with the need for the second insulating plate 9 or to provide the holder of heat conductor 2 &# 39 ; roughly half - way up the winding . as shown in figs . fig3 and 4 , solid parts 32 of retaining rail 11 have widened areas 33 at the center with through holes 34 . these holes 34 can receive a matching projection from a retainer 41 displaceable along rail 11 for a temperature switch 42 ( fig4 ). the holder 41 of a temperature switch 42 can also be connected by eyelets or spot - welded on widened solid parts 32 with openings 34 . in this case , insulating plates 3 , 9 with holes 34 have flush openings 69 ( fig1 ) with a larger radius , so that it is easy to fasten them to finished heating elements using eyelets . a suitable holder 41 for a temperature switch 42 is shown , for example , in fig4 to 6 in . the holder 41 initially has a solid part 43 which is hairpin - shaped and spans the width of rail 11 , at whose ends tabs 44 are formed which fit around tabs 17 of retaining rail 11 , by means of which tabs 44 retainer 41 is held on rail 11 and is displaceable along the latter . a bead 46 is provided centrally in solid part 43 , serving as a counter - bearing to tabs 44 on the underside of retaining rail 11 , or in the vicinity of openings 32 in lower insulating plate 14 . by bead 46 , retainer 41 , after location at the desired position on retaining rail 11 , can be fixed in position , for example , by spot - welding or the like . a projection 47 extends on one side from solid part 43 , essentially flush with the latter , from which projection in turn a flange 48 projects upward , whose end 49 is bent laterally . temperature switch 42 with a contact 51 is mounted on this bent end 49 , or fastened by eyelets . an angular part 53 with a flange 54 is mounted on solid part 47 by an insulating bridge 52 and insulated from solid part 47 . between projection 47 and flange 54 a projection 56 of insulator 52 projects by means of which parts 47 , 54 connected with insulator 52 , for example by eyelets , are prevented from rotating . on a flange 57 , which is bent down from angular part 53 contrary to the direction of projection 54 as well as projection 49 of part 48 , the other end 58 of temperature switch 42 is fastened which is securely held as a result . reference number 61 refers to an insulating support for the temperature switch while 62 is a mount for a bimetallic disk 63 , 64 is the movable contact switched by bimetallic disk 63 , and 66 represents the fixed matching contact of temperature switch 42 , which is cut out of contact strip 58 and bent outward . in particular , the construction according to the invention also permits several temperature switches to be arranged in sequence on retaining rail 11 and possibly mounted so that local overheating , which in a unit with only one monitor , when it occurs at a distance from the latter , would not cause a safety shutoff , is reliably provided for . in addition , several temperature switches can be provided in the form of regulators . in addition , some of the temperature switches can be regulators and others can be monitors .