any electricians out there? or someone who can make sense of this?

I've been trying to purchase a kiln for months. I keep getting hit with road blocks but I think I'm at my final hurdle.

I have a kiln that runs on a 20 breaker, 10 copper wire, 120v outlet, 15 amps.
Can I run that kiln on everything the same but a 12 copper wire? is it hard to change the wire?

Isn't it the higher the number the thinner the strand? If that's the case, then I wouldn't run it on a 12 gauge wire - you could overheat it and burn it out. An electrician can change it out, but depending on how far the breaker box is from where you want to put the kiln, it could mean tearing thru walls to run the wire. A good electrican can sometimes detach a wire from the breaker box, tie the end to a new wire, and pull it thru the wall. I've not done this, but I've watched electricians do this.

Hubby is out right now, but when he gets home I'll have him read your question. He knows a lot about electric stuff and probably can answer your question.

thanks everyone - I figured that 10 was bigger than 12. My garage is not attached to my house and there are wires running to it, underground. My breaker box in on the second floor in the back of my house and I know that running a new wire from the house to the garage is not an option. My only hope is that something can be done without running a wire.

I can put the kiln on the 3rd floor of my house - probably needing to add a wire there too. Adding a wire within a building isn't too bad right?

Originally Posted by Renovia

thanks everyone - I figured that 10 was bigger than 12. My garage is not attached to my house and there are wires running to it, underground. My breaker box in on the second floor in the back of my house and I know that running a new wire from the house to the garage is not an option. My only hope is that something can be done without running a wire.

I can put the kiln on the 3rd floor of my house - probably needing to add a wire there too. Adding a wire within a building isn't too bad right?

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Is there a separate breaker box in your garage? Most detached garages will have their own breaker box. If that's the case, then there is a bigger wire running into that box, and you would only need to replace the wire inside the garage. Just a thought......

Adding a line can be easy, or could be hard. In my last very old house, running wires in the wall was impossible. Running lines in the walls at my current house is possible. We just ran a new main line into our (attached) garage and added a breaker box out there, as we wanted a 220 line to run a welder out there.

I had an electrician come over a couple months ago and it was going to be nearly impossible to make the garage have a 220v - so I just assume that running ANY wire out to the garage is impossible. I just want to get this kiln so I need to figure out if it's even worth calling the electrician again........I really don't think there's a breaker box out there. Should there be?

oh and it needs a 30 breaker - my bad.

Before you think about putting a kiln inside the house, you might want to check into whether it will have an effect on your home insurance. I know someone who built a separate building 'way off in her backyard for a glass furnace (admittedly a bigger deal than a kiln, of course), and she couldn't even get insurance on the house alone afterward. If your kiln is also considered a fire hazard, you might prefer to let it live in that detached garage!

that is something i've definitely thought about and will check into. The kiln I'm trying to get is very small, about the size of a microwave and will only hold a couple of pieces

I just read this and asked BF before he went outside..He said you can run in on the 12 copper wire (we actually run our stove on a smaller wire than we should [whoever wired before we moved in did this]) If you are already having an electrician coming in though to look at everything than his recommendation is to just get the wire changed and the right size just to be safe because like someone else said, if your going to be using it alot there is a risk of it over heating and a fire starting...Or if its going to be like our stove and rarely used (cuz Im never home to cook) you would be fine on the smaller wire!

Are you planning to run this kiln on an extension cord or hard wired in? In either case, you should always stick to what the appliance is rated at. If it requires 10 gauge wire, you need to use 10 gauge wire or heavier, but not lighter. Even though you say this kiln is small, you can still start a fire with under rated wiring. The wire can over heat. It is best to stick with the wire that the kiln was rated for. Since it draws 15 amps, most home circuits can handle that. Many appliances, like toaster ovens, draw that much current. However, your kiln will be on and drawing power for a longer period of time, which can cause over heating of under rated wiring, especially if there are any other appliances using the same circuit. With an appliance such as a kiln, I would never use an extension cord. However if you must, make sure the cord is rated higher than what the appliance requires. In this case, I would use 8 gauge or even higher. Never run the appliance off a long extension cord. I am not an electrician, but I do have experience in this field.
Just a thought, if your garage has power, it should have it's own breaker and circuit. Check the breaker box in your home, to see if the garage has it's own circuit. I have a detached garage as well that has full power. The garage has it's own breaker box. In my previous home however, the garage had power, but no breaker box inside.

thank you so much for your responses! My garage definitely does not have its own breaker box but it does have power. The cord that comes with the kiln is the cord I'll be using, no extensions needed, no hard wiring necessary.

so I called the kiln company and I guess I'm going to put the kiln in my house. I have all the ventilation I need as well as clearance etc. I'll double check with my insurance.....still gotta install that 10 wire.....installing a 10 wire hard? I mean do you HAVE to have an electrician to do it or is it sort of like changing wiring on outlets - where you don't have to have an electrician come over for that.

If you know what you are doing my bf said its not hard. He rewired our breaker box and dryer all himself and he is not an electrician..just a handy do it all kinda guy which worked well for us because some idiot put our living room stove and dryer on the same breaker which caused us to end up destroying a brand new dryer in 2 weeks cuz we didnt know this was the situation...He said to google the process of rewiring the kiln so you can get an idea of whether you would be able to handle that process or not.

thanks will do


now I'm stuck again,

If I'm going to wire a kiln, should I just stick to the small one I was going to get or should I just wire for 208/240V and get a little larger kiln?