What are the Dangers of a Self-Cleaning Oven?
There are a few household chores everyone hates to do – amongst the top-ranked is cleaning the oven. Now branded as the UK’s most hated chore, the technology that apparently fixes this problem is a self-cleaning oven. Do you have a self cleaning oven?
Perhaps you were excited to see your oven had a self-cleaning option. Saying goodbye to back-breaking scrubbing and toxic oven cleaning products. A sparkling clean oven at the touch of a button – are self cleaning ovens too good to be true?
What is a Self-Cleaning Oven?
A self-cleaning oven uses high temperatures to burn away food deposits and leftovers, without the need for toxic oven cleaning products. A self clean oven has a typical cleaning cycle that takes several hours to complete, and locks for safety reasons.
The oven reduces food to ash with exposure to temperatures of around 932 degrees Fahrenheit. The self-cleaning oven sounds convenient, time-saving and cost-effective, making these ovens appealing to consumers. But are there any dangers involved in self-cleaning ovens?
Oven Fumes
Self-cleaning ovens can produce and emit dangerous fumes into the air with an unpleasant burning smell. Self-cleaning ovens reach high temperatures and produce fumes from the burning of food particles and enamel lining. These fumes circulate within the indoor air and can affect the home occupants.
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
Research has concluded that many self-cleaning ovens can produce and release carbon monoxide emissions into the kitchen and home. The baked-on food in the oven is exposed to high temperatures, releasing this emission into the air.
This poisonous gas is odorless, tasteless, and invisible. Carbon monoxide can significantly affect the air quality and health of those breathing in the gas.
Safety tip: If you have a self-cleaning oven ensure that the windows are open during the process and keep a working carbon monoxide detector in your house.
Children and Pets
Young children and pets can be at risk of burns when the oven is in self-cleaning mode. The front of the oven becomes very hot during the cleaning process, so children and pets should never be left alone while cleaning.
The glass oven door is also at risk of shattering when in self-cleaning mode. The glass in oven doors has been strengthened to make it more resistant to heat. However, the extreme heat caused by self-cleaning can cause the glass to shatter in some circumstances.
Asthma and Respiratory Issues
Toxic fumes can emanate from the oven when cleaning, which can be dangerous to someone with asthma or respiratory problems.
The inside of your oven is coated in Teflon, which can withstand normal oven temperatures. However, when the Teflon is exposed to extremely high temperatures it breaks down and releases fumes. Inhaling these fumes can lead to coughing, sweating, breathing issues and flu-like symptoms.
If anyone in the household suffers with existing respiratory issues, it is advised that they stay away from the oven during the self-cleaning process.
Fire Hazards
Self-cleaning ovens can be fire hazards. Even if all the large food partials are removed before cleaning, the temperature gets so high in the cleaning process that even grease can ignite a fire according to Fix Appliances.
The fuse of a self-cleaning oven may blow out due to extreme heat caused by the self-cleaning process. As a result, the control panel may burn and lead to a fire.
Fume-free Professional Oven Cleaning
Now you are more aware of the dangers of using the self-cleaning oven feature, you can decide whether to use the feature or not. The good news is, all ovens, including self-cleaning ovens can be professionally deep cleaned by Ovenclean.
Ovenclean specialists use our range of unique no added caustic oven cleaning solutions, giving safe, outstanding results to all oven brands and models. Our cleaning system is completely exclusive to Ovenclean’s network of local specialists. The cleaning system and range of products ensure that our customers benefit from a safe working environment and a fume-free home. All cleaned ovens and appliances are completely safe to use just as soon as we’ve finished. .
Get your FREE professional cleaning quote here.
