It is so relaxing though, you really do not notice the time it takes. I think the hardest part for me is waiting for the kiln to cool enough to open it when I have a load of finished items waiting to come out, LOL. I usually sleep very little the night before. I am like a mother hen brooding over her chicks, LOL. There is always the concern something did not come out as expected or it cracked in the kiln. The temptation is great to "just take a little peek" but you cannot because opening the kiln too soon will cause the pieces to crack and break for sure. It takes about 5 hours to fire my kiln and another 12 hrs to cool completely.