Laboratory ovens can be used in many thermal processing applications such as general lab work, core hardening, component and stability testing, sterilizing, and drying glassware. Ovens are a lower temperature-usually below 1400 degrees F- thermal processing unit and normally dont include refractory insulation. Another name of oven is kiln. Kilns are extremely high temperature thermal processing units. They are used to fire ceramics or calcine materials. Kilns made for firing ceramic materials have temperatures of over 2300 F. Kilns used for drying wood or other wood products are like ovens and run temperatures which are lower. Specific laboratory applications for ovens include aging, baking, annealing, brazing or soldering, curing, firing or sintering, burn-off, drying, foundry or melting, treating heat, preheating, hot pressing, quenching and sterilizing. Ovens in laboratories can also be used as applications in the general industry.

Temperature range is the most important aspect for laboratory ovens. This is the highest temperature at which the unit can still operate and maintain performance. The maximum capacity or space inside the oven also needs to be taken into consideration. Also, pressure range might be important when specifying types of ovens.

Laboratory ovens are available in a variety of configurations, such as bench or cabinet, continuous or conveying, tube or muffle, walk-in or truck-in and vertical. Cabinet or bench ovens are mounted on integral stands. They are small batch ovens, which are normally used for processing products in a single batch. Conveyor units are usually set up to automate the production of small to medium sized products in large quantities. The type of conveyor system used depends on the volume of work to be produced, the product line, and the required temperature. Tube or muffle ovens have indirect heating. This is achieved by placing the material inside a refractory container, which is heated from the outside. Truck-in or walk-in has larger batch equipments, as they are generally used for processing a large quantity of products in a single batch. Lastly, A vertical configuration is sometimes desirable as it saves space (vertical does not refer to the direction of airflow).

Heating and control are important speculations for laboratory furnace ovens. There are several types of heat source or transfer, including arc, combustion, electric or resistance, contact or conduction, indirect, infrared or radiant, induction, propane, natural gas, oil, RF, microwave or dielectric, and steam. The control of the laboratory ovens can be programmable to different temperatures for different time intervals, or set to a single point in temperature at which the oven will activate. Another important aspect of specifying laboratory ovens is atmosphere, which are usually air or oxidizing, inert, reducing, salt bath or vacuum.

Commonly found features on laboratory ovens include racks or shelving, cooling systems, air filtration, alarms, timers, logging or recorder options, and explosion proof construction.

Since purchasing a brand new laboratory oven can be costly, you may want to consider purchasing a certified used unit.