2013 Lab Oven Product Survey

While nobody gets excited about lab ovens, they are definitely essential lab components— drying glassware, controlling crucial temperature experiments, drying reagents and desiccants, annealing and curing materials and much more. The past couple of decades have brought big changes in lab ovens.

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 the interior chamber space/weight of my sample and the floor space in the lab a match to the oven application and lab?
Do I need any computer interfaces, alarms or safety devices on my oven?
Are accessories that suit my specific needs like data loggers, viewing windows or modifications like access ports available from the manufacturer?

Top ten features/factors that influence respondents when buying a lab oven:
1 - Price
2 - Ease of use
3 - Low maintenance / operating costs
4 - Safety
5 - Temperature ranges ambient +40C to 200C / 250C
6 - Power requirements
7 - Service and support
8 - Warranty
9 - Smallest footprint possible with a large interior
10 - Controlled airflow to provide uniform temperature heat distribution

Lab Ovens are being used in respondents' labs for the following functions:
Heating and drying	55%
Temperature-linked experiments	21%
Evaporating	9%
Baking	5%
Sterilization	5%
Other	6%

Lab oven components that are being used by respondents:
Temperature Monitoring	50%
Shelving / Racks / Carts	47%
Controllers / Programmers	35%
Over-Temperature Protection	31%
Data Logger	10%
Chart Recorders / DAQ	6%
Cooling System	5%
Air Filtration	5%
Other	1%

Types of lab ovens currently being used in respondents' labs:
General Purpose Oven	64%
Mechanical Convection Oven	31%
Microwave Oven	22%
Gravity Convection Oven	20%
Vacuum Oven	16%
Safety Oven	5%
Other	5%