WarmGlass.com

I am working on a grant proposal, and wondering if anyone can offer insights on a couple things in my budget.

1. Is there an average going wage rate for early career glass artists?

2. Any advice on how to calculate energy costs of running my kiln?

Thanks!

Your kiln doesn't cost much to run. I have a large 130 Amp kiln that fires 40" x 84" A typical firing costs me $12 - $15 in energy cost plus the cost of maintaining the service. I know this only because there was a month when I only fired it once, and I looked at the bill. I live in a state, NH, with relatively high electricity costs (we are paying for a dead nuke plant).

Wages are different all over the country. You can afford to live on much less in Kansas City than you can in San Francisco.

Google "calculate cost of firing kiln" and you will get quite a few hits, including this one:

http://www.bigceramicstore.com/information/tip16.htm

Dana W.

Yes, kilns can be fairly inexpensive to run, if that's all you're paying for. Depends on where your kiln is hooked up. I was arguing with my husband that my kilns weren't the culprits to our crazy-high electric bill; after all, I'd done the calculations based on the energy use panels on each kiln. I maintained that my largest kiln was approximately $12 to run.

My electrician was there one day when I was working. I explained my rationale to him and showed him the usage stickers. He reminded me that our household was using so much electricity (multiple computers in the house running 24/7, etc) we were being charged at what amounted to 'penalty rates.' My kiln was actually costing more like $35 per firing. That's when we converted our house to solar.

Valerie, you make a good point. There are a plethora of different electric rules out there. For a while, I had a demand meter on my workshop. When that was in play, my first firing of the month, which might have used $15 in kwh charges cost an extra $150, when you added in the delivery charges, the bill for one firing would be $180. Now that bill is closer to $30. You can imagine the happy dance I did when the meter got changed.