The Shelfords on wed 5 mar 97
Hi Vikki & Stilltree -
Re: >I'm scared to see what our electric bill will be after using this kiln.
>Anyone have any figures to give me an idea what we'll be dealing with?
When I was working this out, I called our electricity supplier and asked if
they could tell me how to figure what it cost to run an electric kiln, and
they offered this equation: (watts X operating hours / 1000) X .06. I did
a rough estimate of the number of hours for both a bisque and a glaze
firing, and the number of pounds of clay in an average firing, and this
gives me some idea of the cost per pot. That, however, is for BC Hydro, -
your cost schedule may be different, so you should call your supplier.
As to what electric glazes look like, you're starting back at square one and
endless testing. But "Electric Kiln Ceramics" by Richard Zakin may be a
help, in addition to your other reference standbys. What cone are you
firing to, and what sort of work are you doing? What effects do you want?
If it doesn't have to be functional, there are a wide range of surfaces and
colours to be achieved, but even keeping within the limits of functionality
you have tremendous possibilities. A lot of the interest in oxidation
glazes comes from the interplay between two or more glazes, esp. resist
work, trailing, painting or artful dipping. Rutile and/or Titanium dioxide
plays a big role in surface activity. Reactive slips under the glazes can
have fabulous effects. While reduction itself (except the speciallized
areas of silicon carbide or saggar work) is not available in electric, ash
glazes are very workable and effective.
You'll have lots of offers of glazes - I'll be happy to throw some in too,
if you are firing at ^6. Let us know.
Veronica
____________________________________________________________________________
__________
Veronica Shelford
e-mail: shelford@island.net
s-mail: P.O. Box 6-15
Thetis Island, BC V0R 2Y0
Tel: (250) 246-1509
____________________________________________________________________________
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Paul Monaghan on thu 6 mar 97
The Shelfords wrote:
>
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> Hi Vikki & Stilltree -
> Re: >I'm scared to see what our electric bill will be after using this kiln.
>
____________________________________________________________________________
> ____________
Hi Veronica,
Here's a simple way to calculate the cost. The power company sells
electricity by the kilowatt hour which is $0.06 according to your
information. A kilowatt (KW) is simply a 1000 watts. Most times the
tag on your kiln will state that it uses x number of kilowatts on full
power and reduced numbers on lower powers.
So here's an example. Let's say that at full power your kiln draws 50
KW's and you run it at full power for 10 hours. than the energy
consumed is KW x Hr = 500KwHr. If you pay $0.06 per KWHR it will cost
you 500 KWHR x $0.06/KWHR = $30.00.
If you kiln name plate only gives amperes and voltage such as 5 amps,
110 volts than the power in watts is Amps x volts. So this would be 5A
x 110V = 550 watts. If you divide by 1000 you will have kilowatts or
0.550KW and again if you run it for 10 hours this will be 5.50 KWHRs.
I hope this helps. Yell if you need more information.
Ciao,
Paul
--
Paul J. Monaghan email: paul@web2u.com
WEB2U Productions --- http://www.web2u.com
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