Are you supposed to turn off the pilot light in the summer?

[Minnie_me]

I was cleaning around our gas fireplace today, and was surprised at how much heat that little pilot light was putting out!

I've never had a gas fireplace before, and can't find the manual that came with it. Are we supposed to be shutting that thing off in the summer?!??!?!

 

[TaraPA]

We have 4 gas FP units & yes we turn off our pilots from April-October. Our gas company estimated that they were costing us $15 a month each in gas to have the pilot on. Not sure if that's true or not, but it was enough for us to turn them off!

I'm sure there are many different units out there, some may not have the option to be turned on & off. I'd go online & look up your make & model & see what it says.

 

[KirstenB]

We turn ours off. You're right, they do throw off a surprising amount of heat.

 

[Caradana]

Good question. I have no idea. I was looking at ours today and wondering about this.

 

[ZipaDeeDooDah]

Yep, the pilot lights throw an amazing amount of heat.

We turn ours off in the summer months.

 

[dis-happy]

We turn ours off. Does your gas company do free visits? Ours does, and the guy showed me how to work our gas fireplace, including where to turn off the pilot (and how to safely restart it). If you can't get the gas company to do it, try getting in touch with a fireplace store, I'm sure someone there will give you the basics.

 

[Minnie_me]

Thanks everyone!

I'll be investigating this today!!

 

[DVCKennyD]

Count me as the lone dissenter... Turning off the gas for the pilot is an invitation for trouble. Spiders are notorious for wreaking havoc on unlit pilot orifices. They can clog the tube and/or tiny orifice of the pilot assembly itself, resulting in either a weak pilot(partial clog) or no pilot(entirely clogged).

Either way, if this happens, the pilot assembly will have to be removed and cleaned for proper operation.

KennyD