Currently, all of our units operate on all electric power. In the future we plan to offer gas-fired units, but for most users electric power makes the best option. Electric units offer many advantages over gas-fired units, namely: simplicity, reliability, and ease of maintenance. All of our units ship ready to hook-up and run. Simply connect your power leads and you’re in operation. Every unit is pre-tested and guaranteed to be ready for operation as soon as it hits your door.
In the future, any maintenance or repairs can be made by an electrician or general maintenance technician. And maintenance parts are easily and quickly sourced. With a gas unit, if it goes out of service for repairs, it’s not uncommon to wait for days or weeks for needed replacement parts, with an electric unit, most parts can be sourced locally or overnighted. The potential downtime with an electric unit is very minimal as compared to a gas unit.
What about cost of operation? Truthfully, for the 7 standard size curing ovens that we offer, we have calculated the hourly rate to operate as compared to gas-fired units. Cost of operation for our units vs comparable size gas units is nearly identical. As you go with very large units (20 feet long or larger), gas does offer a cost benefit, but for most standard size units, electric is the all around winner.
For this reason, over the last couple of years we have seen a large shift in customers ditching their gas fired ovens and going back to electric, even on very large units (20’+.) Gas units can be very finicky to set-up and maintain, and they have a long history of nickel-and-diming their owners. Unless a shop has multiple ovens, they cannot afford extended downtime from a gas unit and have chosen to go back to electric ovens for simplicity and reliability.
