A fire brick kiln will stay heated for a long time once it's been at a holding/garaging temperature while you're making beads. And the more you have in the kiln, the longer it will take to cool down. You could try a test by running it empty, and hold at your garaging temp for at least an hour, then turn it off. See how long it takes to cool down naturally. That will give you a starting point of how long it stays at the critical temperatures. Unfortunately, with an infinite switch, you're left with a lot of guessing and kiln-sitting.
If you're making small beads, you could probably just turn it off when you're finished with your session and the heat retention would take care of it. The larger the beads, the more you need a controlled cycle.
Good luck!
Mimi
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