Question: I want to purchase an electric, cone 10 kiln for hobby use. I want to store and use it in my garage. I am not concerned about the fumes as I have a door with a screen door that I can leave open during firing. Is this adequate? I am concerned about flammability with my gas water heater pilot light. I could position the kiln away from that but the doorway is near the water heater and so the fumes could be drawn toward that exit. I also keep my car in the garage but would not take it in or out during firing. Is there a fire risk with that? It is a newer car and has no gas or oil leaks. It is a large garage, 2 car plus workshop area so I could park the car away from the kiln while using it. Could you please advise me on the best way to make this work safely?
Answer: Let's take this step by step.
1) You are fine with any fumes coming out of the kiln in a well-ventilated place - as far as your own safety is concerned.
2) There are no flammable fumes coming from the kiln so you don't need to worry about creating a hazard with an open flame.
3) The only real potential hazard is the kiln as a potential ignition source because the case gets hot. As long as there is nothing overtly flammable - i.e. spilled oil, gasoline, etc and as long as you keep any flammable items like wood and paper at least 36" away from the kiln you should have nothing special to worry about.
