sorry for my part in that. I have a burn out furnace that had a stand alone programable controller. The controller has a thermocouple ans switches a plug that you can plug anything into.
I like it besause i switch it to differnt things (I only have one now but there are plans, as always)
It is a paragon furnace and controller. They happen to be close to me, and i was having problems I took it to the factory. They inspected and tested it at no charge. So i liked the customer service. It was an intermitent problem and worked fine when there. I eventually tracked it down to a toggle switch that is going bad. For now I wigle it a litle and it works. One day i wil replace it.
Anyhow they make a full range of furnaces from small ones that will plug into a regular wall to big ones.
But I think we may be talking apples & oranges. I also have an oven with a temperature controller that allows overnight automated burn-outs. But I'm interested in a stand-alone metal-melting furnace along the lines of the image below.