As early as 29,000 years before Christ, people relied on specially designed fireplaces, which they used for the production of bricks and ceramics. At the beginning of the 17th century, the first cast-iron stoves appeared, which were used mainly in industry. The first gas stove became popular in the 18th century, and about 100 years later Thomas Ahearn developed the "archetype" of the electric stove.
Muffle furnaces, which are still relevant today in science and research, first appeared on the market in the mid-19th century. Initially, they were used exclusively for the extraction of zinc in corresponding industrial plants. Today, they have continued to develop and are indispensable in laboratories for testing, burning, melting, drying, ashing, sintering and vulcanizing.
Whether for hardening, annealing, forging, preheating, or debinding - laboratory furnaces are perfect for a wide variety of heat treatment applications and shine with maximum functionality and an outstanding performance portfolio. Thus, there are different types of laboratory furnaces for every need.
These generally differ in terms of their structural characteristics, their heating elements, for example, with regard to technologies. Other criteria include the furnace volume and the temperature that can be achieved. Whether elevator furnaces, chamber and muffle furnaces, tube furnaces, high-temperature chamber furnaces, or annealing and curing furnaces: whatever your choice, you will find it here. In addition, our online assortment holds an extensive selection of furnaces for the discerning customer. Compared to devices for industry, laboratory furnaces are significantly smaller and more compact. But what should you look for when choosing a suitable furnace? We have summarized our 5 most important tips for you:
Always be aware of your own requirements before choosing the furnace, and then weigh the advantages of each. For example, the elevator furnace is a further development of the muffle or chamber furnace and is characterized by its compact furnace chamber and movable furnace floor. The advantages of this furnace variant are high user comfort, low wear and tear, and the fact that models in this product category are particularly low-maintenance.
Moreover, the heat elements, designed in a U-shape, can be removed from the bottom. This not only reduces the opening size, but also makes it easier to detect and eliminate potential weak points. If you don't want to give up a high performance portfolio and easy handling, the elevator furnace is just what you need.
If you place the highest value on precision and good usability in everyday laboratory work, high-temperature chamber ovens are ideal. Drying ovens are also recommended in this regard. These usually have a maximum working temperature of up to 300 °C. You can use them for numerous tasks, such as hot storage, sterilization or drying.
There are high-temperature chamber ovens and drying ovens in classic design, as a tabletop unit as well as in the mobile version. With metallic ovens, you benefit from excellent temperature uniformity inside the oven chamber, ideal atmospheric unity, and a final vacuum that meets your needs. Modern high-temperature chamber furnaces with metallic insulation are predestined for metallization, metal injection molding and experiments requiring a carbon-free atmosphere.