Ok, strictly speaking this isnât a âbarbecueâ tip but, as we hope you know, weâre in the fireplace business too. And, we donât think youâll complain about this tip because weâre sure it will save most of you some money. You ready? Ok here goes: Turn off the pilot light in your fireplace. Good eh? Yeah, we thought so. Barring any July or August snowstorms you can probably turn the pilot light on your gas fireplace to âoffâ.Â
A pilot light in a gas fireplace doesnât use a lot of gas and the gas it does burn is turned into heat. Thatâs all good during the cold season but in our (too short) summer itâs energy that just doesnât need to be wasted. So, turn off your pilot light. Why waste gas and money keeping the pilot going? They donât use much gas but you likely donât want the heat generated in your house these days anyway.
Question:
Dear Dr. McGrillemup,
I turned my gas fireplace pilot light off to save fuel during the summer. Now that our four weeks of summer is over, my house is cold again. I forget how to turn my pilot light back on. How do I do it?
K. Auld
Â
Answer:
Dear K.
First of all - don't panic. A lot of people think that lighting a fireplace is on the same intellectual level as splitting atoms. It's not. It's just slightly more complicated than lighting a candle. Â Read your instructions and you'll be fine. If you can't find your instructions give us a call and we should be able to walk you through it.