How much gas does a standing pilot light use?
Whether a standing pilot costs you anything in Weaverville depends less on the gas main and more on when your home was built. The Reems Creek new construction going up all over town mostly ships with electronic ignition — no standing pilot, no continuous draw. Older downtown homes with converted masonry fireboxes are the ones more likely to run one.
New builds usually have no pilot to worry about
Weaverville is seeing rapid new construction, especially out toward Reems Creek, and today's builder-installed and premium gas fireplaces overwhelmingly use electronic or intermittent ignition. That means the burner lights only when you want a fire — there's no standing pilot burning around the clock, so there's simply no continuous cost to ask about. If your home is newer, odds are this whole question doesn't apply to your fireplace, and the only gas it uses is the gas you deliberately burn.
Older downtown fireboxes and the millivolt pilot
The picture flips in Weaverville's older downtown homes, where original masonry fireboxes have often been converted to sealed gas inserts. Many of those run a millivolt standing pilot — a small flame kept lit day and night. On the natural-gas main that serves town, its cost is minor, and that pilot has a real upside: needing no electricity, it keeps producing heat when the grid goes down, and it keeps the firebox dry against our north-facing valley's slow, damp springs. The tiny draw is the price of that grid-free simplicity.
Your call, and we'll make it simple
If you've got a standing pilot and want it gone, shutting it off each summer saves a little, and converting many units to electronic ignition is straightforward licensed gas work we permit through Buncombe County. If you like the electricity-free operation, keep it lit — the cost on the gas main is small and the outage-readiness is real. We're 15 minutes north of our Emma Road showroom and glad to check what your fireplace actually runs. Call (828) 545-0525.
Fireplace help in Weaverville
We install and service fireplaces throughout Weaverville and the rest of Buncombe County — just 15 minutes north from our Asheville-area showroom.
Related questions
- Should I leave my gas fireplace pilot light on all summer or turn it off?
- Does the pilot light give off enough heat to warm up the room in summer?
- Are there benefits to leaving the pilot lit year-round, like keeping moisture and spiders out?
- How do I shut the pilot light off for the summer?
- Does turning the flame down make my gas fireplace use less gas?