You can save gas and conserve energy by switching off the pilot light during summer. There is continuous use of gas to keep the pilot light on—turning it off will help save energy. While it may not be a significant drop in your energy or gas bill, remember, every dollar counts.
Save Energy and Money – Don't Leave Your Pilot Light Always On. As the weather gets warmer, you will be using your gas fireplace less and less.
Energy Conservation
The best reason to turn the pilot light off during summer is to conserve energy, especially now that prices are rising. Leaving the pilot light on consumes more gas, and it doesn't make sense to pay for it when you're not using it.
Your boiler pilot light is a very important part of your boiler. The pilot light or flame needs to be lit all the time to make sure that your boiler can produce hot water for your taps and central heating as and when it is needed.
A fireplace pilot light might consume about 24,000 BTU per day, adding up to about 720,000 BTU a month, or 7.2 therms. If you're paying $1 per therm, then leaving the pilot light on all the time throughout a month might cost you around $7 per month and $84 per year.
You can save gas and conserve energy by switching off the pilot light during summer. There is continuous use of gas to keep the pilot light on—turning it off will help save energy. While it may not be a significant drop in your energy or gas bill, remember, every dollar counts.
So a pilot light uses anywhere from 594 (for 60 m³) up to 2475 kWh/year (for 250 m³).
The pilot light, however, is an actual old-fashioned flame inside your furnace. This flame is supplied by your gas line and should always be lit. When the temperature in your home falls below the desired level, your thermostat sends a signal to your furnace.
The Pros are that the pilot light will keep moisture and bugs and small critters out of the unit. Cons, cost of fuel and heat which is small.
Having the pilot light turn off is not automatically cause for panic. If it goes out, follow your manufacturer's instructions and determine whether relighting it is safe. If relighting is not safe, or if your pilot light keeps going out, call for help from a trained technician.
When you switch on your heating system, a valve will release the gas to start the combustion process. If your furnace model uses a pilot light, it may be a good idea to turn it off during the summer. A continuously burning flame can generate heat and encourage condensation.
The Cost of Relighting the Pilot Light
A plumber can help reignite the pilot light. They will charge you an hourly fee of $40 to $150. This is usually a fairly brief project, and may just take an hour.
If your HVAC unit runs on gas, you have a pilot light that ignites the fuel source, turning it into energy and powering your AC system. When the pilot light goes out, or fails to ignite, your entire AC system is dead in the water.
Additionally, an active pilot light can create moisture, which may collect inside the pipes and cause corrosion. Turning off your pilot light is a simple process that will save you both energy and money.
Pilot lights can be a source of carbon monoxide because the by-products of combustion are released inside the home rather than vented to the outside. Gas ovens and ranges should be monitored closely and kept in good working order.
Originally a pilot light was kept permanently alight, but this wastes gas. Now it is more common to light a burner electrically, but gas pilot lights are still used when a high energy ignition source is necessary, as in when lighting a large burner.
As the weather gets warmer, many homeowners wonder if they should turn off their gas fireplace pilot light in the summer. Typically, extinguishing the pilot light in the summer is safe and often sound practice. However, several factors must be considered, including safety, energy efficiency, and cost.
Pilot light. With the pilot light approach, you replicate your data from one Region to another and provision a copy of your core workload infrastructure. Resources required to support data replication and backup, such as databases and object storage, are always on.
Yes, it's generally recommended to keep the pilot light on to prevent condensation buildup inside the fireplace when not in use.
Resetting and Lighting the Pilot Light
Always start by turning off your furnace at the thermostat. Then, turn the pilot light's reset switch to the “Off” position, as this will stop the flow of gas. You will need to give the gas ample time to dissipate before attempting to light the pilot.
Newer gas furnaces (since about 2010) do not have a traditional pilot light that burns all the time. Instead they use electronic ignition systems that light only as needed. Constant flame or “standing pilot” heating systems are still fairly common in older homes, and they can still be repaired in most cases.
However, it's important to understand the risks of turning off your pilot light. Gas leaks and explosions are just two of the dangers that can occur when your pilot light is turned off unexpectedly. Instead, it's always best to leave the pilot light on when you're not home.
Is It Dangerous if The Pilot Light Goes Out? The worry here is that when a pilot goes out, the gas valve that supplies the fuel for the pilot flame could still be pumping gas. This can mean a buildup of gas, and when the pilot is relit or relights itself, it could result in a very serious explosion.
There are about 91,000 BTU in a gallon of propane. And the cost per gallon of propane is a lot higher than natural gas, floating somewhere around $3.05/gallon now. Doing the same math it would mean the pilot uses about 8 gallons of propane per month, which translates to about $24.00 in fuel cost.