How expensive is firing glass?
Less than you may think. Even though kilns draw a lot of electricity, they do not draw it continually. Over the course of a typical glass firing the kiln’s elements are only on a fraction of the time. Newer kiln controllers allow you to enter your cost per kilowatt hour for electricity and they will report back the cost of the firing. A recent pattern bar firing at our studio, in a 240 volt (40 amp) kiln with 3.3 cubic feet interior (about as big as most home users will ever get) lasted about 20 hours and used less than $4 worth of electricity.