Beginner Kilns (Plug and Play)

The Olympic HotBox E. It holds 0.16 cubic feet, a 6.5 inch cube, and Olympic rates it to cone 10 at 2350F on a 120V circuit. At $1,041.60 it is the least expensive kiln on this page.

The Doll E / Test E is the next step up at 0.3 cubic feet, 11.25 x 7 x 9 inches, and is also rated cone 10. Above that size the ceiling starts to drop: the 129E at 0.58 cubic feet is cone 6, and the Traveler at 0.84 cubic feet tops out at 2000F.

Most of them, yes, on a NEMA 5-15 plug, the standard shape. Two of the Olympic kilns are the exception: the 129E and the Traveler ship with a NEMA 5-20 plug, which has a sideways T-slot blade and will not fit a standard receptacle.

Either way, check the circuit and not just the socket. Every kiln here wants a dedicated 20 amp circuit with nothing else running on it during a firing.

Because a kiln is what the electrical code calls a continuous load, something drawing current for three hours or more without a break. Continuous loads are sized at 125 percent of their actual draw.

15 amps times 1.25 is 18.75 amps, which rounds up to the next standard breaker size, 20 amps. A 15 amp breaker would not be a safety margin, it would be a nuisance trip halfway through a glaze firing. This is why Olympic specifies a 20 amp breaker on kilns that only draw 15.

At minimum: shelves and posts sized to your chamber, kiln wash to protect the shelves from glaze drips, and witness cones to confirm what the kiln actually reached. A kiln with no furniture in it can only fire things that sit flat on the floor of the chamber.

The Doll E / Test E can be ordered Quick-Ship with a furniture kit included for this reason, which is why that configuration costs more than the kiln on its own. If you are buying anything else on this page, budget for furniture separately and call us so we can size it to your chamber.

Firing clay and glazes releases fumes, and a small kiln produces less of them but not none. The firing area needs ventilation whether or not you add a downdraft vent system.

What your setup needs depends on the kiln, the materials you fire, the room and any local codes, so it is not a question we can answer generically. Call us at (470) 264-3563 and describe the space.

Less than the name suggests, and we would rather be straight about it. Both have the same 0.21 cubic foot chamber at 8 x 7.75 x 5.75 inches, both draw 14 amps on 120V, both reach 2000F, and both use the Sentinel TouchXpress controller.

The difference is the relay. The SC2 Pro uses a solid state relay instead of a mechanical one: silent rather than clicking, no contacts to burn out, and tighter temperature control through slow ramps and holds. If you are enameling or doing precise glass work that matters. If you are doing burnout, it may not.

Not to get started. The Olympic kilns here ship with the Bartlett KilnStar digital controller, which will run a cone-fire program perfectly well, and the Genesis touchscreen is a $110 upgrade. The Paragon kilns ship with the Sentinel TouchXpress as standard.

What the touchscreen buys you is programmable multi-segment schedules, stored programs and firing graphs. That matters if you are doing glass, which needs slow controlled ramps and holds, and matters less if you are firing pottery to a cone with a standard schedule.

Yes, and on household power. The HotShot HS-360K is the entry point at $1,687 with a 10 x 6 x 6 inch chamber rated to 2200F, which covers 1095, 5160, O1, A2, D2 and 52100 as well as the common stainless steels.

Stepping up buys chamber length rather than heat: the HS-18K takes an 18 inch blade at the same 2200F, and the Paragon KM14 and KM18 reach 2350F. The full knife oven range has 32 models including the 240V ones.

Less than most people expect, because a 120V kiln's draw is capped. At 15 amps it is about 1.8 kilowatts at full power, roughly what a hair dryer uses.

Multiply that by the hours of the firing and by your rate per kilowatt hour to get a figure for your region. The real number lands below that, because the elements cycle on and off through the firing rather than running flat out the whole time.

The smaller kilns on this page ship by parcel carrier, which is quicker and cheaper than freight. The heavier ones, such as the Traveler at 168 pounds and the Paragon KM18 at 185 pounds, move by truck with curbside delivery, appointment scheduling, tracking and liftgate service where required. Shipping is calculated at checkout before you buy. See our shipping page.

Performing the manufacturer's recommended initial test firing will not by itself void a return, as long as the other conditions in our policy are met. Full terms are on our returns page.