Glass and ceramic plants burn gas to reach temperatures above 1,000 degrees, around the clock. Kilnworks builds electric kilns and furnaces that reach the same heat, run on a schedule the plant sets, and tell the utility in advance when they will draw power.

Beatrix Holm was a process engineer at a glass container plant. Ray Tuttle designed power electronics for industrial drives. The kiln’s controller does the thing a plant manager cares about, which is holding temperature through a shift change, and the thing a utility cares about, which is not surprising the grid.

Three plants are running Kilnworks equipment today. The first has operated for fourteen months without an unplanned stop. The company sells equipment with a service contract, quotes a fixed price per kiln, and publishes its energy use per tonne so a buyer can check the numbers against their own bill.