2014 Lab Oven Product Survey
Common laboratory ovens maintain temperatures ranging from just above ambient to about 300°C and are ubiquitous in chemistry, biology, pharmaceutical, forensics, and environmental labs. Units operating at temperatures above 300°C are normally dedicated to specialized applications in physics, engineering, electronics, and materials processing. Typical lab ovens use four to six cubic feet of space and are located on benchtops or stacked atop another oven; other units may be much larger.
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Trevor Henderson, PhD
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Trevor Henderson BSc (HK), MSc, PhD (c), is the creative services director at Lab Manager. He has more than two decades of experience in the fields of scientific...
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Top 5 Questions You Should Ask When Buying a Lab Oven
- What temperature range do you require? (Does the product have reserve temperature capacity?)
- What accuracy and uniformity does the product have? (Will my sample be damaged or will my experiment only function in one “sweet spot”?)
- Are interior chamber space / weight of my sample and floor space in the lab a match to application and lab?
- Do I need any computer interfaces, alarms or safety devices on my oven?
- Are accessories like data loggers, viewing windows and modifications like access ports available from the manufacturer to suit my specific needs?
Types of lab ovens used by survey respondents:
| General Purpose Oven | 41% |
| Microwave Oven | 17% |
| Mechanical Convection Oven | 16% |
| Vacuum Oven | 10% |
| Gravity Convection Oven | 8% |
| Other | 4% |
| Safety Oven | 3% |
Oven-related applications performed by survey respondents:
| Heating and drying | 56% |
| Temperature-linked experiments | 18% |
| Evaporating | 12% |
| Other | 5% |
| Baking | 3% |
Nearly 30% of respondents plan on purchasing a lab oven in the next year. The reasons for these purchases are as follows:
 | Replacement of aging lab oven |  |
 | Addition to existing systems, increase capacity | |
 | Setting up a new lab | |
 | First time purchase of a lab oven |
Top 10 features/factors respondents look for when purchasing a lab oven:
| Ease of use | 92% |
| Low maintenance / operating costs | 90% |
| Price | 90% |
| Safety | 89% |
| Service and support | 87% |
| Warranty | 68% |
| Temperature ranges ambient +40°C to 200°C / 250°C | 86% |
| Energy efficient | 84% |
| Ease of installation | 84% |
| Power requirements | 84% |
Completed Surveys: 264
For more information on lab ovens, including useful articles and a list of manufacturers, visit www.labmanager.com/ovens