WarmGlass.com

Hi
My kiln is in an unheated attached garage. I've never had problems firing it during the winter....but it has never been this cold since I've lived in this house. Temps in the mid hudson valley of NY will be below zero at night and single digits during the day. Does anyone think there are issues I should be thoughtful of when firing the kiln in such cold temps? Thanks for the advice.

your controller might get cranky. i put a space heater near mine untill the kiln heats up enough to keep it warm. hmmm. gonna get cold here as well. must check pump house.r.

Rosanna
Do you think the controller could break due to the cold? I wouldn't want to chance it.
i have a small space heater... could use as you suggested
thanks for the advice

Cold should be no issue at all. Condensation maybe. I would keep the controller powered up (lights on) This should keep it dry and warm enough. Firing is also no issue. The difference between the inside temperature being 1000ºF and the outside temperature being zero or 32 or 72 are negligible.

Susanbuckler wrote:My kiln is in an unheated attached garage. I've never had problems firing it during the winter....but it has never been this cold since I've lived in this house. Temps in the mid hudson valley of NY will be below zero at night and single digits during the day. Does anyone think there are issues I should be thoughtful of when firing the kiln in such cold temps? Thanks for the advice.

I agree with Rosanna and Bert. The cold should not harm your kiln or the digital controller as long as the air is not too moist.

The Sentry and Sentry Xpress controllers that Paragon uses may malfunction if they are operated in 32F/0C or colder weather. Typically, the TCR (thermocouple reversed) error appears when the thermocouple is much colder than the digital controller. But as Bert wrote, you can raise the temperature near the kiln with a small space heater. Once the controller and thermocouple are above 32F/0C, the kiln should operate normally.

Sincerely,

Arnold Howard
Paragon Industries, L.P., Mesquite, Texas USA
ahoward@paragonweb.com / http://www.paragonweb.com

I just read on craftweb that a digitry controller does not like to work if its thermocouple is too cold.

May I add a question to Susan's original question?

My kiln is also in an unheated garage. The outside temperature warmed up for a few days to about 50 degrees and I assembled some pieces in my kiln, but I wanted to add two more pieces before firing and I ran out of time. NOW, we are having extreme cold again and my pieces have been sitting in the kiln getting cold. I was wondering if 250 degrees per hour up to 1050, with a hold of 30 min. is too fast since the glass is cold. I was thinking about adding a segment like 50 degrees per hour to 250, and hold for 30 before starting my regular schedule, but I wasn't sure if that is necessary. I just don't want to have to disturb what I pieced together by taking it all out and bringing it in the house and I didn't want to have to add more time to my schedule if it's not even necessary. Thanks.

I have done some of my fuses with the starting temp of 20 in the kiln, going at 250/per. But I do make sure the temp goes down slowly all the way to 75 and holds until I will be able to get the glass out of the kiln.

i see no reason to hold at 75 (or any other temp) on the end of the program. the glass does not care how cold it is. rapid temp changes are the only real worry.

I agree who you most of the year. I live in Minnesota. My kiln was set at 75 and I turned it off to load it. Went in the house for less than a hour. The kiln had already dropped to 29. That is why I keep it at 75 until I can unload it.