Kiln Venting

[LBH]

Hi everyone! I have SUCH a newbie question (questions!).

I just am not sure what is required for kiln venting. My kiln is in the basement, right in front of a window. I can close the door at the top of the stairs and easily not go in. I have so many questions about kiln venting which just underlines that I clearly don't understand enough about it. 

1) Is venting necessary if I can close the door and not be in the room? I feel like the emphasis is that venting is necessary if you are in the room, but it still seems important?

2) What about going in to check temps/through peep holes? I assume if there are fumes then there needs to be protection at this point?

3) If it is necessary, what kind of venting would make sense for me given the window is right there? It's an old house but the window opens, however I live in Canada and it is VERY cold so it would be ideal not to open the whole window or only leave it open during firing or something. 

 

If you have any links to some really basic kiln operation stuff I would really appreciate it. I find everything on kilns seems to require some prior knowledge and obviously I have none  Thanks!

[neilestrick]

Yes, you do need to vent. You don't want the fumes to be drawn into your HAC system and spread throughout the house, and you don't want all the particulate matter in the fumes to be landing in the kiln room, to be breathed in later and/or spread around the house.

You've got two things to consider when venting in a basement- fumes and heat. If you only want to vent fumes, then a downdraft vent will work great. Any vent from any downdraft vent from any kiln brand will work great. If you care about UL safety listing, then get the one made by your kiln brand, as the UL listing doesn't always transfer if used on other brands. If you also need to vent heat, which you probably do so you don't overheat the room above the kiln, then an overhead hood from Vent-A-Kiln will vent both fumes and heat. The advantage of a downdraft vent over a hood is that it will bring fresh air/oxygen into the kiln, so your elements will last a bit longer and your glazes will look better. The advantage of the hood is that it will vent both fumes and heat. If you have a low ceilings, then get the wall mounted arm for the vent hood.

For both types of vents you can either replace the window pane with a board that the vent goes through, or rig up a board that can fit in the open window and can be removed when the kiln isn't firing.

Downdraft vents are less expensive than the overhead hood, so if you want to save money and still vent out heat, you can rig up a board in the window for the downdraft vent, and also hang a 6" vent fan LIKE THIS above the kiln to pull out heat, also going through the window board.

[oldlady]

to see how one of our members, Mea Rhee,  does what neil recommends, find Good Elephant pottery online.       look at the photos taken in her basement studio here in her albums.