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Calculating firing fees

Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2004 4:43 pm
by cherylka
I have had several requests to rent kiln space for firing glass, and am at a loss about how to calculate charges.

Has anyone ever rented kiln space, or sold time on their own kilns?

I saw one post that said she thought someone charged $35/piece. This seems very high to me.

Thanks,
c

Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2004 4:45 pm
by travisraybold
it's $15/firing at the local glass shop here... but it gets turned off when they shut down the shop, so it can be a bit tricky...

Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2004 5:21 pm
by Tim Swann
If the kiln in question is used for production of your own work, you need to take into account the lost potential revenue it would have generated. At a minimum the fee should cover the power, labor, rental or mortgage, and insurance costs. Anything less than this is good will on your part.

Tim

Kiln elecricity

Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2004 5:24 pm
by Lauri Levanto
I have a separate meter for my kiln, and keep track
of the consumption.

My kiln is rated at 10 kW. A frit cast session of reasonably
thin piece takes about 20 to 28 hours.
Simple math says I am consuming 200 to 280 kWh.
The meter says I have used only 24 to 35 kWh.

Read this so that my kiln is ON only 10 per cent of the time.

For pot melt castings the consumption easily climbs to 100 kWH when the annealing takes a couple of days.

Remember that electricity is but a part of the picture.

Maybe this helps with your pricing.
-lauri

Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2004 5:40 pm
by Tony Serviente
I agree with Tim. I charge for lost production. Electricity and wear and tear are negligible. If someone can piggy back with a load it might be an affordable $20 for a 20x20 shelf. If they want the whole kiln my prices range from $50 to $400, depending on the size of the kiln, the time of year and how much hand holding they need.

Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2004 1:54 am
by watershed
When I was renting time at a shop, the going rate was $45 a day. Not sure whther that is a good price for the supplier, but it seemed resonable as the buyer. But this was for casting, week long cycles etc.

Greg

Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2004 11:09 am
by Phil Hoppes
My data concours with Lauri, I've put hour meters on both of my production kilns and interestingly enough, for a typical cycle they are only ON for about 10% of the total time of the cycle.

To figure your cost however this is probably the smallest component. Your lost opportunity cost is probably the highest. If your kilns sit idle for a significant amount of time then it probably does not hit your bottom line as much but you want to figure all of your costs plus a little Jam on the side for yourself.

Phil

Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2004 2:41 am
by Lynne Chappell
I've charged $15 for a 20x20 load. That is only enough money if I wasn't going to put something in it myself. At that price you could easily have no kiln time for yourself, on the other hand, it can help pay for a new, bigger or better kiln. Just make sure that you don't end up doing a bunch of extra work, like prepping shelves, loading the kiln, etc., etc.