zlrenner

Thanks all! Especially in my area I imagine it would be easy to sell so that's good to hear and feel better about getting the e18S. Although I have a feeling I'd always still want a smaller / test kiln regardless so we'll see After years in a communal studio the quick turnaround especially for glaze testing is what's appealing to me about a smaller kiln regardless of my electrical limitation. I understand bowls will be annoying and obviously pitchers/jars/etc, but seems like plates should be fine with the right furniture. And I work from home so actually being able to fire frequently shouldn't be a problem. I'm already working with a distributor I've used before and was happy with so not sure the etiquette on that, but I'll at least give Northwest Potters Supply a look given the recommendations. Thanks again.

Buying a kiln and debating between the two models. I've already asked L&L a couple questions but still having trouble making a decision. Size/Usage: I think 16.5"x18" is currently perfectly adequate for my needs as a hobby potter making functional ware, interested in improving through quick iteration with no strong interest in making wide pieces (and for the occasional wide or tall piece there's also good firing services where I live). Everyone says to size up a bit though to plan for 5 years out, which I can't easily do because... Limitations: My studio only currently supports 30A. The quotes I've gotten for rewiring to 50A are prohibitively expensive, especially considering I don't plan to be in the house for more than 5 years anyways. That limits me to the e18S or JD18 (or other brand equivalents). Power: Coming from a Cone 10 reduction studio, I had originally thought that being able to firing to Cone 10 was important and the e18S-3 was a bit more capable of this (and L&L agreed it would have longer element life) because its elements are tailored to run the kiln at max allowed amperage for the specific model (23.9A), and thus has a tiny bit more power than the JD18-3's 23A. But the more I learn, it sounds like outside of rare experimentation/learning purposes there aren't almost any good reasons to go above 6 in oxidation. And anyways both kilns are rated for 10, it's just a 200 watt difference. Given the above, the expandable JD18-3 seems like it might make more sense for my scenario - for ~$200 more, I can buy it and if I want to expand the height to 27" (assuming I have 50A available in my next house) I could buy a section / element cord / 50A power cord and thermocouple for ~$1200 or so. But on second thought, perhaps that ~$1400 is much better spent towards upgrading to or adding a 23" wide kiln at that point anyways. Also the JD18-3 is special order only now and seems to be discouraged by L&L so who knows what that might mean for the future cost of parts? So basically, I'm finding myself trying to justify the JD18-3's expandability given my electrical limitations and everyone's recommendations to get a kiln larger than you currently need, but at the same time the e18S-3 otherwise seems just as good or better and perfect for my needs right now.