Ok, strictly speaking this isn’t a “barbecue” tip but, as we hope you know, we’re in the fireplace business too.  And, we don’t think you’ll complain about this tip because we’re 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 ‘off’. 

A pilot light in a gas fireplace doesn’t use a lot of gas and the gas it does burn is turned into heat.  That’s all good during the cold season but in our (too short) summer it’s energy that just doesn’t need to be wasted.  So, turn off your pilot light. Why waste gas and money keeping the pilot going? They don’t use much gas but you likely don’t 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

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.  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.