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Kiln question

Hello all, I've read similar postings over the past few years, but I guess I didn't pay attention to the answers well enough. I've got a kiln that I can't get into my house. It's been on my front porch wrapped in plastic, lowering property values for a year now, becasue I'm not sure what to do. I could get it into my back porch and I'm trying to figure out the feasibility of putting it there.

First, the back porch is a wooden structure, about 8 feet wide and 5 feet deep, with the adjoining wall to the house being made of brick. I could run the wiring through to this wall. The advantage, is of course that venting would be easy, it's not actually in the house. Disadvantages, this is Canada and it regularly goes to -20 or -30 in the winter. So, how realistic is this, what kind of insulation would be required to deal with the fact that it's made of wood, what kind of clearance from wooden walls is needed to keep it safe? etc.

I know people have commented on similar questions in the past and I'm wondering if you'd mind repeating your advice! Thanks in advance. Simon

Reply to
<simonaheath
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about 18" seperation. you could put up durock (cement board) to protect it. don't forget the floor.

Reply to
Charles Spitzer

Do you have a garage? Having it outside could be a problem, the colder temperatures could make it more difficult to reach your required temp. You would be using much more electricity and even bunged it is making your kiln work a lot harder. I am in New Zealand and have my kiln in my garage and even here (moderate climate) I notice the kiln takes longer on a cold 10C winters day. I close the garage doors and it does make a difference. Yes I am in Wellington and wind is an issue sometimes. Could you build a small shed to house it? Here in NZ anyway small garden sheds are pretty cheap. Good luck Annemarie

Reply to
annemarie

Reply to
<simonaheath

Well all I can say is that here in NZ it would be fine. With your temperatures?? Yeah I am sure it will be ok but might just take a bit more electricity and a little longer. You would have to compensate your firing to take that into consideration. The cone reached is about heat work, not temperature reached. So you can fire lower and soak for a while and it will reach a higher cone. Thus if you just take longer to gain your temperature it will also give more heat work. You would be wise to have cones in every firing to see how the outside temperature was affecting your kiln. Good luck Annemarie

Reply to
annemarie

I live in Austria and we get pretty cold winters here, my kiln, also about 7 cubic foot, is in a kind of leanto to my workshop (an old pigsty), which has a roof and some walls, but no windows, just large openings. So the kiln is practically outside. I fire it all year, it is a pain to load it in winter, because it is so cold. My kiln has a special button which tells me the kwh it uses for each firing, it uses more, if there is more in it, but i have not noticed a difference between winter and summer. If you think of how hot it fires, (i fire to about 1100°C) i don't think those 20 or so degrees at the beginning will make any difference to your electric bill.

Monika

Reply to
Monika Schleidt

Wow your kiln must be very well insulated. Mine is in that at high temps the outside is warm but not hot, yet in winter it takes longer to reach temp, just has to work harder I guess. We notice it at the art centre as well and kilns there are in a fairly insulated buildling. They sure to warm the room up.

Reply to
annemarie

If you're in Northern Canada, the cold staying for weeks, have you considered spray foam insulating the walls around the kiln area at least. We use this in the Mojave desert (weeks of 120F and lots and lots of wind). Makes a huge difference in our shop which is large enough so there is no real heating or cooling available. Ours was done nearly 30 years ago and is still working fine with no maintenance. Sorry, I don't know where my husband got the material, he says it was from a private contractor. You might check with any contractor in your area.

Reply to
Kathryn & Stuart Fields

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