Many people ask, are wood countertops heat resistant? The answer is simple. Yes, they are. The general myths that claim that wood countertops are not heat resistant come from misinterpretation of thermal conductivity. Most people want heat resistant countertops, but they do not know what it means. Once they do understand, they see why wood countertops are great for kitchens.
Heat resistance is necessary in the kitchen for many reasons. No one wants a counter top that will char, scorch, melt, or burn people because they are hot to the touch. Wood is heat resistant and cannot possibly melt. It does not become so hot that it burns you. It will only burn or scorch under extreme conditions.
Most people do not pull out their physics books when then are shopping for countertops. There is no need to do so either because it is easy to understand in the right context. Heat resistance is the same thing as thermal conductivity and is the R-VALUE of the wood. This means that wood does have the ability to resist the transfer of heat.
Think about a match. It is a stick of wood with a flammable material on the end. Even under extreme conditions, such as fire, you can hold on to the match without it becoming hot. Over time, it will burn through, but the heat resistance of the wood makes it a slow process. If the match is made of stone or metal, then your fingers would burn quickly
Heat resistance is the transfer of heat into an object. With that information, it is easy to understand why wood makes good countertops. You can sit something hot down on wood countertops because the heat will transfer slowly. If the wood is resisting the heat, then it is also resisting any damage that could be caused by heat.
Wood countertops do not conduct heat well. That is a good thing considering how many hot pots and pans there are in your kitchen. Countertops that conduct heat well are safety hazards, which could cause family members to be burned. This is not an issue with wood countertops because they do not draw the heat in as quickly.
Being heat resistant also means that the chemical makeup of the wood countertop does not change easily under heat. Ever tried to start a campfire? People have all kinds of tricks and tips for starting a campfire. This is because wood is heat resistant. For the fire to catch, it has to change the chemical makeup of the wood.
The fact that wood countertops do not change chemically unless under extreme heat is why they will not burn, singe or scorch. This means that they are durable enough to handle a pan fresh from the oven or a plate straight from the microwave. The myth that wood countertops are not heat resistant makes no sense when you look at it scientifically. In fact, many builders would tell you that they are preferably when installing or remodeling kitchens.