STENABY Fan oven, Grill function white/IKEA 300

The oven door met all safety requirements, and the outer temperature was even lower than the EU standard. But Indumathi made sure that our test lab examined the door thoroughly. Could there be something wrong with it? “No, there wasn’t. But small children have weaker reflexes than adults and don’t always react to heat as quickly. That’s what made the child keep their hands on the glass too long.” The accident seemed like an isolated event, but the team was determined to try to lower the outer temperature of our oven doors.

Together with the suppliers, it was solved by increasing the layers of glass, switching to a more heat-insulating glass coating, and, in some cases, increasing the thickness of the glass. “That way, we managed to lower the temperature to meet our new, stricter requirements. But it also meant that we had to redesign and update the ovens in our range.” It wasn’t hard to convince everyone involved that this was the right thing to do. “It feels great that we invested time and resources in minimising the risk of accidents with curious children. Now, the kitchen is a safer place for everyone – with no extra cost to you as a customer.”