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electric kiln in old garage. danger?

updated tue 2 mar 99

 

Jeff & Melanie Boock on fri 26 feb 99

I am in the process of installing an L&L J245 kiln in the garage of
my house. My question (concern) is will the heat generated by this
kiln be excessive at the level of the joists crossing the garage?
This house is pretty old and dry, and I would like to avoid burning
it down, since I just bought it.

TIA

Jeff Boock
jboock@vail.net

Jim Cullen on sat 27 feb 99

Jeff, keep the kiln a least one foot from the walls, install a fan to move the
air , and don't let the kiln fire unattended and you SHOULD be O.K.

I fire a 7 cu. ft. electric in an 8 foot x 12 foot closed shed and the inside
temperature never gets over 90 degree F in the dead of winter (below
freezing). I figure it gets hotter than that in mid August on an average day.

The space between the kiln and the wall is the most important. Be sure nothing
is hanging directly overhead that could catch fire. Moving the air is
important too.

Good luck. It sounds like you're on your way.

KEEP CENTERED
CULLEN
Naperville, IL

Donn Buchfinck on sat 27 feb 99

I have 2 skutt 1227's in my basement that is in a house that is built out of
wood.

wood is a wonderfull building material, it has to get pretty hot for it to
ignite. or direct flame.
get a vent for it and make sure you put it away from a wall, and if you are
still worried about a wall it is next to, staple some heavy duty aluminum foil
on the wall, shiny side out, this will reflect most of the heat energy.

also wood has a higher fire rating than steel

just don't raku in your wooden building

Donn Buchfinck

Vince Pitelka on sat 27 feb 99

>I am in the process of installing an L&L J245 kiln in the garage of
>my house. My question (concern) is will the heat generated by this
>kiln be excessive at the level of the joists crossing the garage?
>This house is pretty old and dry, and I would like to avoid burning
>it down, since I just bought it.

Jeff -
No, you will have no problem at all. But the fumes put out by the kiln will
be corrosive, and will cause metal to corrode badly, unless you install a
vent system. There are excellent ones on the market for a reasonable price.
Avoid the one with the hood which lowers over the kiln. That one is
complete worthless. Just my opinion, as always.
- Vince

Vince Pitelka - vpitelka@DeKalb.net
Home 615/597-5376, work 615/597-6801, fax 615/597-6803
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166

Herb Moses on sun 28 feb 99

I had two electric kilns in the basement of my circa 1885 house and fired
them frequently. The ceiling was low and had exposed wood beams. No
problems. They just don't get that hot.

Herb
http://www.usapottery.com
Palm Springs Pottery
(opening soon)

----------
> From: Jeff & Melanie Boock
> To: CLAYART@LSV.UKY.EDU
> Subject: Electric Kiln in old garage. Danger?
> Date: Friday, February 26, 1999 8:07 AM
>
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> I am in the process of installing an L&L J245 kiln in the garage of
> my house. My question (concern) is will the heat generated by this
> kiln be excessive at the level of the joists crossing the garage?
> This house is pretty old and dry, and I would like to avoid burning
> it down, since I just bought it.
>
> TIA
>
> Jeff Boock
> jboock@vail.net

Tom Wirt on sun 28 feb 99

>I have 2 skutt 1227's in my basement that is in a house that is built out
of
>wood.
>
>wood is a wonderfull building material, it has to get pretty hot for it to
>ignite. or direct flame.


There must be some caution added here. Old wood does NOT have a very high
combustion point...maybe someone has the exact figure, but it's somewhere in
the 300-400 degF area. As wood ages, the lignin bonds break down and there
are other chemical changes. As this happens, the combustion point lowers
dramatically.

This effect used to be the cause of any number of fires when I lived in an
area with lots of wood heat.

Tom Wirt

Mike Gordon on mon 1 mar 99

Hi,
An easy way to insulate against heat is to put 5/8 sheet rock over all
the wood surfaces that are close tothe kiln. Mike