They automate the firing process providing great flexibility and a new level of control which can open up new creative avenues. The newer generation of automatic controls feature either three or four easy to use preprogrammed firing profiles as well as give you the option of up to six user defined profiles. Manual kilns are less expensive and rely on pyrometric cones and manual turn up of kiln input switches to profile the firing cycle. Note that the standard thermocouples will only last about one year or less if you are firing to Cone 6 or above. If you are doing mostly Cone 05 type firing the standard thermocouples are just fine.
Many people prefer front loading kilns for ease of loading.
However, these are much more expensive than top loading kilns. Front loading kilns are also more expensive to repair. Kilns made with a single casing are usually less expensive but have obvious disadvantages. They are very difficult to repair and move. Because of our flexible plugs on the sections and the separate control panel the sections are extremely easy to unplug and move around.