Furnace Pilot Light

If the pilot light will not stay lit it needs to be fixed asap to supply heat to your home and for safety reasons.

Furnace pilot light.

On a typical gas furnace the pilot light is a small gas flame that acts both as an ignition source for a larger burner within the furnace as well as an indicator of whether your furnace is actually burning and producing heat. The pilot light in your gas furnace supplies heat to your home. An operational pilot light in your furnace means safety from the possibility of a gas leak. The pilot light on your gas furnace utilizes a small flame for the purpose of igniting the gas burner when your furnace switches on.

In these systems the pilot will only light in the case of hot surface igniters the igniter surface heats when the thermostat makes a command for heat. Once you are sure the pilot light is on release your pressure on the reset button. The flame is monitored by something called a thermocouple that is designed to shut off the gas valve to the pilot light in the event that it extinguishes or burns inefficiently. Standing pilot lights are common in older furnaces but many newer furnaces have intermittent pilot lights or hot surface igniters.

Once the gas has had time to dissipate turn the knob to pilot then hold down the reset button and bring the flame of a long lighter close to the pilot light opening. A gas furnace s standing pilot in which the flame is lit at all times is sometimes referred to as a pilot light but no matter what you call it its purpose is to serve as a small ignition flame for the gas burner. A pilot light going out can be inconvenient because it will completely cripple your furnace. The pilot light is a small flame that is either lit manually and remains burning around the clock or is lit electronically via an igniter when the machine kicks on.

A number of things can make an old furnace pilot light go out including a strong draft a faulty thermocouple or a loss of gas. A modern gas furnace usually has an electronic spark generator to ignite the gas when the thermostat calls for heat.