Thinking Of Buying A Kiln?

The first thing to action when thinking of purchasing a kiln is to have an electrician attend to check your electrics, even if you are thinking of a 13amp kiln with a standard UK plug. Many people wish to put a kiln in a shed, studio or garage which is remote from the house, sometimes the wiring is old or not compliant to modern standards and this may have to be changed. Old or cheap sockets should be replaced - when a kiln needs 13amps, it will do so for a number of hours. This makes the socket hot and therefore the plug in extreme case can melt.

 

We would also suggest checking your voltage. If you have low voltage, you will come to find that a kiln will take a long time to get to the higher 1200°C+. In these cases, the electrician might advise upgrading your supply. We would also point out that a firing can take 12 hours (actually heating), so it gives the electrician an opportunity to see if anything could conflict with your supply when the kiln is firing.

 

If you are looking for a larger supply for a bigger kiln, your electrician can advise of limitations you might have and the costs involved, but it is sensible to consider all this before purchasing the kiln.

 

We have always advised getting a small kiln to start, the 43,45,46 litres are ideal starter kilns as they offer optimum size for power, and they have a small footprint.

Beginners are not usually productive, therefore firing a few items is all that is required. If you become more productive at a later date your small kiln can become your test kiln, or a back up for the odd firing. You can even sell your small kiln as they are desirable on the second hand market whilst still holding their value. The money raised can then go toward your next larger kiln.

 

For more productive potters, you will need to find the right size, with the best kW that will be used efficiently, but it best discussed with the technical sales.

 

Your options in buying from Hot Clay are a choosing from the brands, Rohde, Nabertherm and Kilncare with either a top loader or front loader (chamber) kilns.

A front loader does the same job as a top loader, but they are significantly more expensive due to more metal/material parts. They do offer ease of loading which is more convenient for some and on the very big ones, they will have added accessories or sophisticated options for more precise firing. All the brands we sell have great build quality and offer fantastic value.

 

We often say when making a comparison, it will be down to the little details which you will prefer. Most commonly, the controller which is the part that you will be using, has to be sympathetic to the way you work.

 

In summary Nabertherm offer the best value kilns as they are a large company and can make many kilns, therefore they are very competitively priced. Rohde have versatility with their modular mid-sized kilns, so you start off one size and it can grow to larger size. Kilncare also have the great build quality and it's British too.

 

We can be helpful with the advice on delivery, and you will get to know the day of arrival of the kiln. Which understandably people do worry about. You will need to plan to take the kiln from the kerbside to the place where the kiln is to be sited. Small kilns can be lifted by 2 strong people, but we always suggest having a third to watch where people are walking, as when people are looking at each other when carrying the kiln they often can't see where they are putting their feet.

We always suggest the wearing of gloves to keep the kiln clean and for protection.

 

Bigger kilns will need more thought as you may need to hire manual handling equipment such as pallet trucks. Once again, we can help with the advice if you can supply us with a video of the route of travel and provide any useful details. We do have contacts of professional movers of large equipment but this may come at an additional charge. 

 

We often joke that we come free with the kiln, however beginners will need to talk to us with a question or two which we will try our best to answer.

With the most common questions, we have included much on our Knowledge Base and we will be doing more videos featuring topics that have come up in conversations. On top of this we do have a technical coordinator that can answer most questions, and we have experience in knowing where to direct people with the more specialist ones.

 

Upon purchase of the kiln, you will receive an email from us with useful PDF's and links on the subject of batt wash, the dry firing and kiln furniture stacking. You can also feel free to visit our Getting Started: Kilns page for more information.

 

Should you want to discuss the purchase of a kiln further, please feel free to call us on 01934863040 or send us an email at info@hot-clay.co.uk.