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the dreaded gas board

updated sat 8 jul 00

 

nancy may on wed 5 jul 00


Help! please, Massachusetts potters: I am trying to build a (natural) gas kiln in Salem, plans for
which must be approved by the State Gas Board. The person on the Board that I’ve been talking to
says that my plans, which now have all the requisite safety systems included, must be stamped by a
professional gas engineer before I present them to the Gas Board. Has anyone else had to do this?
Does anyone know of a sympathetic professional gas engineer who knows kilns?

I’d appreciate hearing about other Mass. potters’ experiences regarding kiln-building (I have been
told that it can’t be done here in Salem; don’t want to hear THAT).

Nancy


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Earl Brunner on wed 5 jul 00


And that would be why I bought my Geil Kiln. They rubber
stamped that installation without a hiccup.

nancy may wrote:
>=20
> Help! please, Massachusetts potters: I am trying to build a (natural) g=
as kiln in Salem, plans for
> which must be approved by the State Gas Board. The person on the Board=
that I=92ve been talking to
> says that my plans, which now have all the requisite safety systems inc=
luded, must be stamped by a
> professional gas engineer before I present them to the Gas Board. Has =
anyone else had to do this?
> Does anyone know of a sympathetic professional gas engineer who knows =
kilns?
>=20
> I=92d appreciate hearing about other Mass. potters=92 experiences regar=
ding kiln-building (I have been
> told that it can=92t be done here in Salem; don=92t want to hear THAT).
>=20
> Nancy
>=20
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Send instant messages & get email alerts with Yahoo! Messenger.
> http://im.yahoo.com/
>=20
> _______________________________________________________________________=
_______
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>=20
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>=20
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pcl=
ink.com.

--=20
Earl Brunner
http://coyote.accessnv.com/bruec
mailto:bruec@anv.net

ASHPOTS@AOL.COM on wed 5 jul 00


To Nancy, move to North Ga, no zoning. You can live in a trailer and have a
wood/salt kiln and nobody can complain,except your neighbors mite have 40
cats and lots of dogs chained up and bark all day. The gas company will help
you set it up also, they make money that way, and they are your other
neighbors.
Fun place

Capt Mark

Dave Murphy on wed 5 jul 00


Nancy:

This may not be pertinent to Mass but here in my neck of the woods (Southern
Ontario, Canada) our propane delivery guys have to inspect all appliances
for which they provide propane. I have been firing my gas kiln for 10 or so
years and was quite surprised that I had to have a "field service test" of
my new brick kiln. If my burners had not been fixed (that is, had they been
Tiger Torches attached to two !00lb. tanks hooked up to the same kiln, ) all
that I would have had to do was take a 20 minute course on how to operate
the Tiger Torche. Now, I have to spend $125.00/hour for some fuel engineers
to come out and "inspect" my kiln in operation. They have suggested that a
high heat sensing device be installed $$$$$ in case I pass out when firing.
After the inspection, of course they have no liability. To be fair to the
individuals involved they are trying to do a job. I know there are some
people out there doing stupid things with propane. It would probably be a
good idea to ask someone knowlegeable in the ceramics field in your area if
they would speak on your behalf.

Good luck!
Barbara Murphy
Waterloo, Ontario
----- Original Message -----
From: nancy may
To:
Sent: Wednesday, July 05, 2000 2:23 PM
Subject: The dreaded Gas Board


> Help! please, Massachusetts potters: I am trying to build a (natural) gas
kiln in Salem, plans for
> which must be approved by the State Gas Board. The person on the Board
that I've been talking to
> says that my plans, which now have all the requisite safety systems
included, must be stamped by a
> professional gas engineer before I present them to the Gas Board. Has
anyone else had to do this?
> Does anyone know of a sympathetic professional gas engineer who knows
kilns?
>
> I'd appreciate hearing about other Mass. potters' experiences regarding
kiln-building (I have been
> told that it can't be done here in Salem; don't want to hear THAT).
>
> Nancy
>
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Send instant messages & get email alerts with Yahoo! Messenger.
> http://im.yahoo.com/
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________
__
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
>

L. P. Skeen on thu 6 jul 00


nancy may wrote:
>
> Help! please, Massachusetts potters: I am trying to build a (natural) gas
kiln in Salem, plans for
> which must be approved by the State Gas Board. The person on the Board
that I've been talking to
> says that my plans, which now have all the requisite safety systems
included, must be stamped by a
> professional gas engineer before I present them to the Gas Board. Has
anyone else had to do this?
> Does anyone know of a sympathetic professional gas engineer who knows
kilns?
>
> I'd appreciate hearing about other Mass. potters' experiences regarding
kiln-building (I have been
> told that it can't be done here in Salem; don't want to hear THAT).


Nancy,

Contact Judy Motzkin mailto:jmotzkin@yahoo.com
She live in Cambridge and has at least one gas kiln somewhere in MA. She
may be able to help you figure out what you need to do.

L

Pat Colyar on thu 6 jul 00


Well, Nancy, I was shocked by hearing about the expensive interference
by the "Gas Board" in your kiln business, and was going to tell you to
move to rural Snohomish County, Washington.
Then my neighbor, who built a dog-fence for me, let me know that by
setting the wooden posts in concrete, that meant I needed a building
permit, whereas, if we had just set them in the dirt, no permit needed.
Aargh!

Pat Colyar, in beautiful Gold Bar, Washington, where the revelry on
the Fourth included the occasional gunshot as well as lots of great
firecrackers...

http://www.firetrail.com/~pcolyar

judy motzkin on fri 7 jul 00


Nancy,
i am in the same place as you are, only my kiln already
exists. i am relocating it. Brett and Tima Freebody are
building a kiln in Sandwich, and they have been told by
their gas guy, no problem .i think it may vary by town
whether they will use a local gas inspector or require a
state gas board permit.
John Baymore has great experience with this board and is
none too encouraging about dealing with them.
If you want to talk about this call me next week. I have
been away.
Judy

=====
www.motzkin.com

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