Just Say No to Your Oven’s Self-Cleaning Cycle
Look through your oven’s user manual and you may find that the oven has a self-cleaning function. An oven that cleans itself? Great, right? While this feature can save you from having to scrub and wipe all afternoon, studies show that it can be hazardous to your and your pets’ health, as well as cause damage to the stove’s components. Because of this, it’s important that you learn about the health risks posed by your self-cleaning oven feature.
The best way to avoid costly oven repair in St. Peters, MO is to just say no to your oven’s self-cleaning cycle. Why? Here are a few ways that using your oven’s self-cleaning feature can result in harm.
Dangerous carbon monoxide buildup
Did you know that using your self-cleaning oven feature can send hazardous emissions, including carbon monoxide, into the air? Carbon monoxide in particular is a hard-to-detect gas that is extremely toxic, even deadly to humans and animals. What creates this gas is the charred and caked-on foods at the bottom of the oven heating up and burning during the cleaning cycle. To avoid this problem, clean your oven by hand, but don’t use cleaning products made with chemicals, as they turn hazardous when exposed to high heat.
Damage to controls or fuses
Temperatures run so hot during the self-clean cycle that your oven’s internal controls can get damaged. In newer ovens, the heating elements are concealed beneath the bottom and up on the ceiling of the appliance. Hiding the elements makes for an easier time cleaning and prevents food drippings from causing smoke, but the self-cleaning feature makes it hard for ovens to dissipate the heat and maintain sufficient air circulation. Fuses can blow and control panels can burn out due to the high heat.
Troubling to people with respiratory issues
The Teflon coating inside your oven doesn’t stand up well in the extreme temperatures brought on by the self-cleaner. It creates fumes, so using your self-cleaning oven feature can be a serious health risk to people suffering from asthma or other upper respiratory diseases. These individuals should stay away from the kitchen when the cleaning cycle is running. Make sure windows are open and turn on the stove exhaust fan, because breathing in the fumes can lead to flu-like symptoms, including coughing, sweating, chills and difficulty breathing.
Unhealthy for animals
The fumes from the oven’s cleaning cycle can also be hazardous to your pet’s health. If you choose to use the self-cleaning feature and not clean manually using chemical-free cleaning products, put animals outside before running it. In fact, your whole family should join pets outside to avoid health risks.
A non-operational oven can be a major inconvenience for people who enjoy cooking hot meals. Unfortunately, even with regular maintenance, your oven can give you problems from time to time. While you may like to try fixing things yourself, it’s better to leave kitchen appliance repairs to the professionals. Call the team at Crews Appliance Repair for troubleshooting and oven repair in St. Peters, MO!
Categorised in: Oven Repair
This post was written by Writer