Can Induction Cooktop Cause Fire? – Possible Causes and Precautions

Induction cooktops are usually promoted as a safe and clean cooking device for the kitchen.

They are sold on the basis of two huge advantages- energy saving and safety.

Induction cooktops, unlike gas or electric cooktops, do not use gas lines or electric cooking elements. This minimizes any chances of causing a fire. And since induction cooktops only heat the cookware, you can even place your hand on it or place a paper on the active induction cooktop and it will not burn or cause a fire.

So if you’re wondering whether induction cooktops can cause fire or not, the answer is that the chances are really low.

Induction cooktops come with a lot of built-in safety features and are a lot safer than gas cooktops or electric cooktops.

Although the chances of an induction cooktop causing a fire are really low, however, you still need to take care of some basic stuff when using one.

If you’re looking for a safe, durable, and energy-efficient induction cooktop, I suggest checking out the Max Burton Induction cooktop.

Built-in Safety Features in Induction Cooktops

Most of the induction cooktops have built-in safety functions to reduce potential fire hazards. The safety functions embedded are as follows:

  1. Automatic shut down if no cookware on top
  2. No power output once cookware is removed
  3. Automatic shut down if running continuously for two hours without any changes in temperature/power
  4. Safety cut off in case of overheating
  5. It does not have a naked flame so heating up of the kitchen is reduced.
  6. The rest of the cooktop area remains cool so there is no risk of burns or ignition of spilled oils and fats.
  7. No emission of harmful gases.
  8. Embedded fan to prevent residual heat accumulation inside the cooktop

While Induction cooktops are extremely safe, there is still a minor chance of it causing a fire. There are three major elements that can contribute to the induction cooker fire – the induction cooktop itself, the induction cookware you’re using, and the fuel used for cooking (namely cooking oil).

The induction cooktop generates the energy to heat up the cookware, and in turn, the cookware heats up the content inside the cookware.

The content being oil used as a fuel to cook food.

Any improper and careless use of any of these three elements can lead to an induction cooktop fire.

Induction Cooktop Elements that can Cause a Fire

Let us look into each element that may cause a fire.

Induction Cooktop

The major component in the induction cooktop is the glass-ceramic plate and heating element coil.

What basically happens is that when current is passed to the copper coil, it generates a high-frequency magnetic field. This field penetrates the ferromagnetic cookware.

The material is usually iron or stainless steel.

An eddy current is generated in the cookware. The heat in the cookware is then transferred to the cookware contents.

More than 50% of the cooktops provide timer and temperature control as a safety measure.

Cookware

Cookware is yet another important element in the induction cooker fire hazard. Not all materials are suitable for induction cooking.

They must contain ferromagnetic material such as iron or stainless steel.

One method to check is to place a magnet at the bottom of the cookware. If it sticks then it is induction compatible.

While considering the performance of the cookware, thermal properties such as thermal heat efficiency are taken into account.

Stainless steel has the lowest heat transfer efficiency.

Manufacturers design different patterns of cookware bottom. The purpose of these designs is even heat transfer and distribution.

The design on the bottom and the diameter of the cookware are important elements that affect the design of the safety devices of the cooktop.

When uneven base cookware and undersize cookware is used, the response time of the safety sensors increases.

Cooking Oil

When we consider cooking oil properties in relation to the induction cooker fire hazard, there are few things that are taken into account.

They are smoke point temperature, flash point temperature, and fire point temperature.

Smoke point temperature is the temperature of heated up oil that begins to give off smoke.

Flashpoint temperature is the temperature of the heated oil that gives flashes of burning when exposed to a flame.

The fire point temperature is the temperature at which heated oil sustains burning after ignited by a flame.

Different oils have different smoke points, flashpoints, and fire point temperatures.

How Fire Can Be Caused By Induction Cooktop

The main part of the induction cooktop consists of a control panel, ceramic plate, and a power cord.

The ceramic plate can withstand certain high degree temperatures. About 600-degree centigrade approximately as quoted online.

However, the power cord is not a fire-resistant cable. It can be ignited and can be easily damaged by fire.

If the oil is heated up to the extent of smoke being filled up in the kitchen and no effort is made to correct the situation, in approx 12 mins an auto-ignition fire can be started by the same oil according to an experimental study of induction cooktop fire by Hong Kong polytechnic university.

Once the fire is auto-ignited in the cookware, it was noticed that the induction cooktop did not shut off on its own. The shut down had to be done manually.

One of the reasons why the safety feature did not trigger in the induction could have been because of improper cookware. Heat transfer occurs from the base of the pan to the cooktop.

If the heat transfer from the cookware base and the ceramic plate is poor, heat transfer is reduced.

During their study, they also found that the fire can reach a level of 1.2 meters.

This implicated that the presence of any inflammable material within 1 meter above the induction unit can cause the material to flame up easily

When the quantity of oil was increased, the fire started earlier. The difference found was 32 seconds.

During my research, I also came across a section where consumers complained of the induction turning itself on due to power fluctuation. One consumer had kept leftover food in the cookware on the cooktop at night after switching the induction off. During power fluctuation at night, the induction switched on by itself and burnt the food.

Summary

Thanks to the study done by the University of Hong Kong, induction cooking fire hazard is very real.

More details can be found here. The safety devices failed and were unable to get triggered.

Anything which needs to be operated can be risky and so is this cooktop. overheating the oil can lead to fire hazards.

The fire hazard is also subjected to the quantity of fuel oil, fuel oil type, selection of cookware and also the selection of induction cooktop.

As a precaution, inflammable materials should be kept at least 1 -2 meters away from the induction.

Never keep anything magnetic and inflammable near the cooktop as the induction works on electromagnetic radiation.

Always remove the cookware from the cooktop once the cooking is done unless you want to keep it warm temporarily by using the residual heat.

Any gadget can malfunction and is never 100 percent safe. Take care of all the precautions beforehand.

Remember improper use of an induction cooker can certainly lead to it becoming a kitchen fire hazard.

Have a safe Induction cooking!

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Hey there! I'm Sasha, just your regular mom-turned-kitchen-appliances enthusiast. When I gave my kitchen a makeover, I took a shine to new kitchen appliances like Induction Cooktops, Air Fryer, Instant Pot, Microwave, and Oven. I'm always up to some fun experiment, whipping up a storm, and writing about common questions people have about the efficient use of these kitchen gadgets