Tank-Based Gas Hot Water Heaters If your hot water heater is gas, simply turn the setting to vacation or pilot mode, DO NOT TURN IT OFF! Reigniting your tank-based gas hot water heater is dangerous, therefore remember to take proper precautions!
Yes it is safe to leave the water heater in pilot mode while flushing. You do not want the burner to fire while the tank is empty as this can damage the tank but the pilot will not cause a problem. Added: most gas valves with a standing pilot have the temp setting and ``pilot'' then off settings.
No. You should not leave the pilot on given the risks which are CO poisoning and, more likely, fire. It is a simple task to relight the pilot light especially after you've got it primed after using before. Not to mention you'll be wasting gas on a heat output equivalent to a Bic lighter.
Continue to hold: Keep holding down the pilot knob or button for at least a minute after the flame ignites. This will ensure the pilot remains lit.
The whole point of the pilot on a hot water tank is to light the main burner when the temperature drops below the set level on the thermostat. That's why you'd want it on if you had a water tank - so you wouldn't have many many gallons of water that needed to heat up again before you used it.
Igniting a flame in the proximity of a gas leak can be very dangerous for you and your home. You should only reignite your hot water heater pilot light if you are sure there is no gas leaking from your unit.
The EPA recommends 120 degrees because it's hot enough to keep diseases at bay but not hot enough to cause scalding. This setting will also supply enough hot water for most small families and is relatively energy efficient.
Your unit's pilot light is always burning when the unit is on. If the pilot light goes out, the gas will stop flowing and your unit will shut off. When heating is required, the gas control valve releases the gas into the main burner where the pilot light ignites the gas.
The short answer is – you do not need to turn off your pilot light, and there is little risk in leaving it on all summer. Leaving it on is the simpler way to go. But, if you want to turn it off, you can, and there's no harm in that either.
What Is a Pilot Light? The pilot light on your water heater is the little blue flame used to light the gas streaming to your heater from the gas pipes coming from outside your home. While some people believe that a water heater turns on when the pilot light ignites, traditional pilot lights are lit 24/7.
Generally, leaving the pilot light on is safe, and you may decide to do this for a few reasons. For example, you want to use your outdoor fireplace on those cooler summer evenings. The pilot flame can also help prevent spiders from building webs in your fireplace, insert, or stove.
Turn off the electricity to the water heater or turn the gas switch to pilot. Shut off the cold-water inlet to the water heater. Connect a garden hose to the tank's drain valve. Locate the draining end of the hose in an area that won't be adversely affected by the scalding hot water.
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.
Ideally, you should turn the pilot light off when you no longer need heating distribution. You only have to manually turn it off when it's not automatically extinguished. You don't have to turn the pilot light off whenever you want to lower temperatures or lessen heat distribution.
This mode allows just enough gas to light the pilot without adding so much gas that you risk an explosion. The way to set the pilot mode will depend on your water heater. Some gas regulator valves will have a clearly marked “pilot” position that you turn the valve to.
That way, your water heater is saving energy while using sufficient energy to keep water flowing and preventing frozen plumbing. If you'll be away from your home for more than three days, it's recommended you use Vacation Mode.
The pilot has a constant flame that is used to ignite natural gas whenever the unit needs to heat water. When the pilot light goes out, the unit won't work until you relight it. This isn't something that you should really ever have to do except if you turned the water heater off or the gas went out for any reason.
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.
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.
Setting the system to “Vacation” or “Pilot” mode saves energy while also preventing damage to your water heater. It's a compromise between using no power at all and using a little bit of heat to avoid extensive damage to your system. So, as you can see, vacation mode is an essential feature of your water heater.
If the pilot should go out, gas is immediately shut off to the main burner, however, there is still a small amount of gas that will continue to flow to the oven pilot. All free standing pilots are approved by the American Gas Association. There is not enough leakage to create a hazard.
There are a few scenarios when you might need to turn off your gas water heater. These include times of maintenance, interruptions in the water supply, or if you suspect a leak. Don't let your water heater go rogue.
120 degrees Fahrenheit is the safety recommendation against scalding, but 140° is the common default setting. Most experts agree that anything below 120 degrees creates a risk for bacteria to develop inside your water heater from stagnant water, such as legionella that causes Legionnaire's disease.
Even old water heaters feature a "pilot mode". This is similar to vacation mode as it will circulate minimal quantities of water through the device just to prevent freezing and leaks. If your device features a "pilot mode" turn the thermostat to that setting and leave it there.
It's better to leave the hot water heater on all the time, rather than turning it on and off. This is a very common energy saving myth. But in fact, you really don't need to be heating your water all the time.