Any environment friendly kiln sites?Or any good kiln sites recomended.Looking for Ceramic pottery and glass.?

Question

Ive been thinking about buying a kiln and i was wondering if you could use a solar panel to help power it.If anyone knows a good kiln site that would be a lot of help.Ive heard of ones that are Ceramic Glass and Pottery all in one and am very interested in that.Thnx

Answer 1

Kilns are not something that is very green - they use power or fuel and have to be taken to high temperatures. You want the most efficient and that probably means building your own with lots of insulation so the least power is needed to get up to temp. Glass furnaces for molten glass gain efficiency up to about 10 inches of ceramic insullation then gain little further for the the expense (and green cost) of added insulation.
The ones that are ceramic and glass (pottery is same as ceramic) combined have heating elements in the walls (best for ceramics) and in the top (best for fusing flat glass) that can be used separately or together. Especially in the case of glass where annealing is required, having a kiln that is TOO efficient means that it cools down more slowly than desired - wasting your time. The best trade off might be a highly insulated unit with a method of injecting air in a controlled way to drive the temperature down.
Solar energy available per hour is trivial with respect to the amount needed per hour for heating - so you are simply talking about supplementing electrical needs.

Answer 2

There are differenterent types of pottery kilns for making different kinds of pots. A pottery kiln you can use for glass must be made of fibre to cope with the thermal shocks involved so you can use an electric fibre pottery kiln for glass. I have done this. Glass needs a different firing schedule than pots and in many ways it is opposite to what potters do and may frighten them. Most glass kilns are a rather flat shape to take one sheet of glass at a time. Think of a table top about 18 inches thick. A pottery Kiln is usually a box like shape that you stack with shelves and then the pots. You need a front loading kiln for best results. If using an electric fired fibre pottery kiln I will set up one shelf that suits my height and work practices inside the kiln. The size of your work depends on the size of your kiln and the techniques you are using. You can use the electric fibre front loading kiln for your techniques. You need protective gear to protect you from the heat such as gloves, Apron and goggles Hope this helps