Pilot - Who's steering your money away

Gas Fireplace

Gas Fireplace pilot (little blue flame)

It is Mid July, is your pilot running?

A lot of houses have some sort of gas appliance like a Gas Fireplace.  Typically these gas fireplaces have a burning pilot light.  Out of curiosity a few months ago I pulled out my thermal camera to look at my fireplace that had a burning pilot.  We only used the fireplace a handful of times this last winter.  Here it was the end of March, it has been months since we used it and my pilot light was still on.  So I shot a picture with the thermal camera....94.1 Degrees! A pilot light will cost you $3-$6 per month.   We only use our fireplace for two months of the year, if I don't shut off the pilot the rest of the year it is costing me $30-$60 in gas.  You have to also account the the additional heat load added to the house that your AC will have to work against costing you more money in electricity.

With just the pilot running...94.1 Degrees

So turn off the pilot lights on any appliance you are not using or do not plan to use for a while.  They typically all have some sort of instructions on how to do so, mine even has little step by step pictures.  I turned my pilot light off and also shut the gas off to the fireplace.  When you go to use it again, it is really easy to start you pilot light back up again.

You might be thinking "It's only a few bucks a month!"  Well a few dollars a month here and a few there start to add up.  Living more Providently includes not tossing money away on unneeded items and also it's about not wasting resources.  There are many small changes we can make daily that can save us a little here and a little there.