Forced Air: Power burners are much better than Venturi burners for use with large demand natural gas kilns or large demand low-pressure propane kilns. These burners do not rely on the action of the gas and chimney to pull primary air into the burner. Whether using natural gas or propane, power burners are not affected by weather conditions. Also, power burners do not need chimney height to create draft. The chimney needs only to be high enough to remove flue gases from the kiln building or shed. Because all primary air is supplied and mixed by the blower, power burners can be more efficient. Their high volume and long flame length help to produce more even firings. This volume and flame length also make it possible to run kilns on two burners, replacing 4 to 6 Venturi burners. On the down side, power burners need electricity, making power failures problematic. With proper safety equipment and installation, these problems can be averted. Power burners are designed to only operate on low pressure for natural gas and low pressure for propane (14" water column or 1/2psi)
Venturi: These burners are best when used with LP, but work well on natural gas in small kilns or with an adequate number of burners. One of the main advantages of Venturi systems is operation without electricity. Since there are no blowers, Venturi burners run quieter under low pressure than power burners. Although generally not as efficient as power burners, they may be turned down lower for preheating. (Power burners can be supplied with a small Venturi pilot mounted to the head for this purpose). Venturi burners can produce different BTU outputs with changes in pressure (see Venturi Burner page). Higher pressures reduce efficiency, but provide more flexibility than the set, high end, output of power burners.
NOTE: Natural gas hook up involves many variables. The available pressure, length of pipe run and the number of turns, pipe size, and the meter capacity all affect the amount of gas that can be delivered to the kiln. Please consult with us if you have any questions.
Approvals: If you run into problems getting your kiln or furnace approved, give us a call. We can supply you with burner specs., listed approvals on burner components, and other information to help you over the approval hurdles.
Personal Philosophy
Cold clear nights. The soft roar of the kiln. Friends brought together by the excitement of making pots. These are some of my earliest memories of firing kilns. As the years go by, the late night firings tend to become lonely vigils, taking us all away from family and friends. For me, a kiln should fire evenly, consistently, and in a reasonable time frame. Pottery can be a large part of your life but, you don't want a life that revolves around a kiln schedule. For this reason our BTU/HR figures are higher than other experts. Using the lower range of the BTU/Hr figures we have outlined will still fire a normal kiln to the desired temperature, but will lengthen the firing time. We believe it is better to have the extra BTU's than to come up short with a heavily loaded kiln during a winter drizzle.
Consulting & Design Service
All of our products come with technical assistance. There are times though when you may need more help. For these times, we offer a consulting service. we can provide you with information or be available, by phone, to walk you through any problems that may arise. Many potentially expensive mistakes can be avoided by asking a few questions. We believe this service can save you both time and money. The cost of this services is $100.00 per hour. For those folks that just want to call and talk with someone about their kiln/burner problems, we'll be glad to help. But, because of the large volume of such calls though, we do charge for this service. Twenty calls a day like this, and we don't get orders out or equipment built....so we charge our usual per hour rate with a $25.00 minimum. Remember, this charge is applied only to folks that have no plans to order equipment from us. If you order in the future, your consultation fee is credited to your order.
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