LED lightbulbs have been gaining more and more popularity in the past decade and for a good reason. They are more efficient than standard bulbs, require less electricity, and can look pretty good in any space, especially if they are colorful. If you are reading this, you are probably wondering if you can put LED lightbulbs in an oven to better oversee the cooking process of your food. Let’s learn all about it.
Is It Safe To Put LED Bulb In The Oven?
The short answer is – definitely not. Don’t try it, don’t experiment with it, because many others have tried and, needless to say, it didn’t go well. As much as you would like your oven to be well-lit, putting an LED lightbulb inside it is not worth it. Here are some of the reasons why you shouldn’t do it.
It May Explode
Although it happens very rarely and you probably haven’t heard about an LED lightbulb exploding, it can happen under high heat. This is more likely to happen if the LED lights are cheap ones as they are not made of high-quality materials.
Ovens usually operate under very high temperatures so they are a hazard when it comes to LED lightbulbs. If they explode, they can cause damage to your oven and food, and it can even lead to fire, let alone the stress that you would have to go through, completely unnecessary.
It May Melt
LED lightbulbs are made of plastic, and plastic can melt. Therefore, putting an LED lightbulb in an oven can and probably will melt it. It is a nightmare having to clean that, especially considering the smell that can be very hard, almost impossible, to get rid of. LED lights can melt at temperatures as low as 100 degrees Celcius, while ovens usually require much higher temperatures for cooking and baking.
It May Poison You
Talking about the LED bulb melting off, it’s very important to notice that the fumes that come out of it can be highly poisonous. You may not even notice that the bulb has started melting when you take the dish you baked outside of the oven. A dish that is soaked in the fumes of the melting bulb can poison you, and it may even be fatal.
It May Cause Fire
While it is not common, another very serious thing that can happen if you put an LED bulb in an oven is fire. When the LED lightbulb melts or explodes, it can catch fire and this may cause enormous damage to your electricity. If the fire spreads, your whole apartment can be endangered. This is just one of the many reasons you shouldn’t put an LED bulb in an oven.
It May Ruin Food And/Or Oven
Even if nothing serious as a fire or poisoning happens, putting an LED lightbulb in an oven can damage both food and the oven itself. If it melts, it will be extremely difficult to get rid of the remains and the smell it can leave. Even if one small piece of the melted bulb remains uncleared, the smell will get worse and worse with each heating of the oven. The same goes for the possible explosion – it will leave many small pieces of bulb around the oven and it would be very, very difficult to clean that.
It Won’t Work For Long
Finally, even if nothing above happens and your LED light doesn’t explode or melt, it definitely won’t work well for long. LED lights work best at lower temperatures, at up to around 50-70 degrees Celcius.
Anything above it can significantly reduce the efficiency and lifespan of an LED lightbulb. Therefore, even if you have a high-quality LED lightbulb in an oven and it seemingly works well, it won’t be like that for very long. You would have to buy them more often, and since they are more expensive than the standard oven lightbulbs, it wouldn’t really pay off long-term.
Either way, it is really not worth it to install an LED bulb in an oven.
What Lightbulbs Are Safe For Ovens?
Now that you know that you are not supposed to put an LED lightbulb in an oven, you are probably wondering which lightbulbs are designed to withstand high heat. Here are a few that you can take into consideration.
Incandescent Lightbulb
When deciding which lightbulb to put in an oven, the safest way to go is to choose a standard, simple incandescent lightbulb. They come in various shapes and sizes, as well as voltages. Although they are not as bright as LED lightbulbs, they have a major advantage – safety at high heat.
The best choice would be a 40-watt incandescent lightbulb, or a few of them if you need your oven to be brighter. The reason these are the best option is that they are made of glass.
Glass can withstand temperatures up to 300 degrees Celcius, so you can rest assured that no explosions or melting will occur. Most of ovens heat up to around 275 degrees Celcius, but if your oven works at higher temperatures, make sure to use the lightbulbs provided by the manufacturer.
Halogen Lightbulb
Halogen lightbulb is a type of incandescent lightbulb that operates with the help of halogen, like iodine. It is also completely safe to use in an oven due to its heat-resistant properties. It may be even more suitable than an incandescent lightbulb because it has better luminous efficacy, meaning that it uses the same amount of energy for brighter results.
Appliance Lightbulb
When buying a new lightbulb for your oven, you don’t even have to think about the different lightbulbs’ properties or get into it too much. If you are shopping at a store or ordering online, just look for appliance lightbulbs, and find the ones designed for high-heat spaces, like ovens and microwaves. The brighter the better, so make sure to choose wisely.
When To Replace Oven Lightbulbs?
Ovens usually come with already-installed, resistant, and high-quality lightbulbs that last for very long before they stop working. They last much longer than other lightbulbs in a home because they are not used as much.
However, they too have an expiration period. When your oven lightbulbs stop working, it is crucial to not take them off before you get a suitable replacement. Leave the broken lightbulbs on in order not to expose the light socket during cooking time.
The exposed light socket can become an accident hazard. You can accidentally touch it and get electrocuted, or the juice from the food can come into contact with the socket, which can become risky at high temperatures, especially once you put a lightbulb in again.
For these reasons, you should wait until you have the new lightbulbs ready, your oven should be cold, and that’s when you should replace the light in the oven. If you are not sure how to do this, don’t risk anything, just call an electrician and they will take care of it for you.
Where Can You Use LED Lightbulbs?
Although LED lightbulbs are not suitable for ovens, they are very useful for many other places. Let’s see what some of them are.
Refrigerator
We mentioned that LED lights don’t work very well at high temperatures and these can also decrease their lifespan for a lot – even years. However, they love cold! This means that the perfect appliance to put in an LED bulb is a refrigerator.
More and more fridges come with LED lights already installed, but if yours uses incandescent or halogen bulbs, you can easily replace them for a brighter option. If you want to add a bit of creativity to the kitchen, you can buy LED light strips and make your refrigerator fun and colorful.
Storage Spaces
LED lights can make any storage room much lighter and more interesting. This includes cabinets in the storage rooms. Storage rooms are usually very small and not very well lit – putting LED lights in can change this in a matter of minutes.
This goes for wardrobes and cabinets in the kitchen as well. Not only it would make your place look better, but it would also make it more convenient for you. Another good use of LED lights is to put them behind a TV or a computer monitor. In this case, it’s best to use LED light strips because they are easy to install and they are colorful, so you can choose which color suits your taste the best.
Floating Beds
If you want to change things up in your bedroom to give it a more modern or fun look, making a floating bed is an amazing choice. These are the beds framed in such a way to give off the illusion of floating. Put the colorful LED lights under them and you’ll feel like you are in a fairytale every time you go to sleep!
Summary
LED lights are not made to withstand high temperatures, so putting them in an oven is a big no. Luckily, they are useful for so many other places, so you can get creative and change things up in your home in just a day!