Kiln Temp/Cooling Question

[DesertDreamer]

My kiln is currently right beside my workbench. (It's an Arrow Springs 18x13). I have the wonderful luxury of twisting in my seat and just popping the finished beads inside.

DH is unhappy with this. Summer heat is upon us (we should break 100 this weekend), we've just gotten an increase in our electricity rates, and the way the airflow works from my studio to the stairwell (which is where the thermostat is) causes the extra heat to trip the thermostat more frequently when the kiln is running or even just cooling down.

We're discussing some possible solutions. His first thought was to move the kiln outside onto our balcony. We have an outlet out there so that's no problem. It would be about 12-15 steps to get out there (plus opening and closing the door in and out). I'm less than enthusiastic about doing this every time I make a bead.

Version 2 of this idea would be to do the vermiculite/crock-pot thing, then take the beads out to the kiln in batches of 4-5. (Depending on the beads, about hourly.) My big concern about this is that I don't know how well the crock pot would hold the temp for 'just' an hour and if the transition from torch to crock pot to kiln would cause them to thermal shock. I KNOW crock pots are unacceptable for real annealing, but how much heat would a bead lose over a short period of time?

The third possibility is investigating whether there's any material/substance I could use to further insulate the kiln to prevent heat transfer outside the kiln. I was thinking about something like a heat resistant fabric filled with fiber blanket panels to cover the top and 3 sides.

Thoughts????? Alternatives welcome. These are just our first 'kicking around' ideas.

[alexm]

Interesting problem. I have the same kiln and it generates a lot of heat. I'm curious to see what others say.

[playswithfire104]

Can it be moved further from the stairwell but closer than the balcony? Like the other side of your studio.

[pegz]

Could you move the thermostat? I don't know how hard that would be, but might be worth looking into..
Or maybe exhausting the heat from the kiln outside?

[DesertDreamer]

The thermostat is already on the other side of the studio from the kiln. It's about 5 feet from the kiln to the balcony door, about 15 feet from the kiln to the thermostat. <sigh> The thermostat is at the top of the stairway plus a few feet, and the intake for the a/c is just beyond that, so air gets drawn up the stairs, past the studio pulling the hot air with it (it's kind of an open loft area), past the thermostat and into the intake.

I'd love to move the thermostat but it was wired in when the house was built and I don't have clue how to move it.

[SassyGlass9]

when I first started lampworking last year, my kiln was in my garage - and I was in my dining room! I would place the completed beads in a heavy duty fiber blanket and then, when I was done with my torch session, I would put all the beads at once into the kiln. I had very good luck with this, and very low breakage. And I'm pretty sure my breakage was due to me being a newbie rather than my method of annealing! 8-[ Come to think of it, for the first month I didn't even have a kiln, and would "Anneal" the beads temporarily in the fiber blanket and then take them as a large batch to my friend's house and batch anneal them in her kiln - sometimes a few days later! Even then, I had very low breakage...

Have you considered this method? You could then move your kiln out to the balcony and only make one trip out when you are done torching, rather than every hour. Unless of course you make really large beads, which might require the kiln immediately.

[lindag]

Are you talking about taking the blanket cooled beads directly into a hot kiln? I think thermal shocking would be a problem.

I would think that wrapping your kiln in a fiber blanket would help with insulation. How about calling Craig at Arrow Springs and asking his advice? Maybe you could rigidize it to keep the particles down.

Also, how about putting a shield around the thermostat on the wall. Maybe an acrylic box type thing that you can lift up to access it. Just checked with DH and he says they have something like that at Home Depot - it's on a hinge and lockable, made to protect access to thermostats.

[DesertDreamer]

Are you talking about taking the blanket cooled beads directly into a hot kiln? I think thermal shocking would be a problem.

I would think that wrapping your kiln in a fiber blanket would help with insulation. How about calling Craig at Arrow Springs and asking his advice? Maybe you could rigidize it to keep the particles down.

Also, how about putting a shield around the thermostat on the wall. Maybe an acrylic box type thing that you can lift up to access it. Just checked with DH and he says they have something like that at Home Depot - it's on a hinge and lockable, made to protect access to thermostats.

Ohh you rock! That might be the simplest solution yet! Woot!

I'm still thinking about some kind of cover, simply because I have a bad habit of bumping into the kiln as it's cooling down and I'm on to doing something else.

Thanks!!!!

[jaci]

humm.. is it possible to put in a vent by the kiln that would suck out the air (think kitchen fan type thing, the ones they build into the counters), and insulate the wall nearest to the thermostat with cement board/fire board? or just build a shadow box type thing out of the fire board, big enough to box in the kiln (leaving some room of course) this might re-direct the heat flow outward? maybe.. im just pulling ideas outta my u knoo what! lol

[Dennis Brady]

humm.. is it possible to put in a vent by the kiln that would suck out the air (think kitchen fan type thing, the ones they build into the counters), and insulate the wall nearest to the thermostat with cement board/fire board? or just build a shadow box type thing out of the fire board, big enough to box in the kiln (leaving some room of course) this might re-direct the heat flow outward? maybe.. im just pulling ideas outta my u knoo what! lol

Any form of exhaust near the kiln would extract the kiln heated air before it dispersed. The bigger the exhaust, the faster the fan, and the closer to the kiln, the more effecive it would be.

[Starrr]

You could build a box of fireboard to cover the back, top and two sides of the kiln and do the same with the thermostat with plastic like already mentioned. You could also use a clip on type fan behind the kiln to force the hot air in the opposite direction of the thermostat if it's not feasible to completely exhaust the kiln heat.

I have a Fusebox ll and it doesn't give off much heat, enough to warm the glass rods on top, but not enough to warm the air around it very much. Although, now that I've thought about it, my exhaust system is pretty powerful and the kiln is almost under it.