Oven Door? Insulated or not. Pros & Cons

[lwalper]

Re: Oven Door? Insulated or not. Pros & Cons

My build is a bit more utilitarian than some of these beautiful ovens I've seen here. What just struck me was, is there a prefab insulated door, on hinges, for ceramic kilns? It seems like I've seen, somewhere, a door about 2 inches thick, which would close securely, with a latch? I'm really just looking for something to close the hole. My wife will be the one using the oven and is concerned about having to physically lift and place a heavy, insulated plug in the hot opening.

Or, how about putting wheels on the bottom of the door so it will just roll to the side without having to lift it? A little ceramic rope around the inner edge would compress slightly giving a good closure. There should not be much heat on the outside of the door so even some small rubber wheels would work?

[dmun]

Re: Oven Door? Insulated or not. Pros & Cons

It all depends on what you want your door for. If you want your oven to be hot enough to cook the day after the fire, you need a well insulated door. For ordinary retained heat cooking a piece of plywood does fine by me. Remember: your heat is retained in the brick dome, only a little in the air inside.

[Ageo308]

Re: Oven Door? Insulated or not. Pros & Cons

Get some insulating blanket (kaowool etc...) cut it to size of the door and then weld 2 pieces of aluminium (lighter) around it and you will have an insulated door.

[david s]

Re: Oven Door? Insulated or not. Pros & Cons

Steel is also a great conductor of heat and will suck heat from the inside to the outside quite readily, so any insulation added to the door should improve the oven efficiency. A steel door is also dangerous to handle when hot.

[Les]

Re: Oven Door? Insulated or not. Pros & Cons

Although the opening is small compared to the whole volume of the dome, you will lose heat. Insulation is your friend. My door 2.5 inches thick and filled with loose vermiculite, and it gets hot on the outside, when the inside temp is up there.

Les...

[schallert]

Hello all,

Looking for feedback on insulated door vs a plain steel door like sold on FB?

Any and all thoughts appreciated.

Dan