Is it safe to relight the pilot myself, or should a professional do it?
In Hendersonville it depends on what you own — many of the quiet, low-maintenance sealed gas fireplaces popular with our retirement community have no standing pilot to relight at all. They use electronic ignition, so a dead fireplace usually means a spent backup battery or a tripped switch, not a pilot you hold a knob to. Older Main Street homes have the truly relightable pilots.
Which kind of ignition you have
This matters more here than most places, because Henderson County's newer subdivisions along Spartanburg Highway lean heavily on sealed direct-vent gas — the set-and-forget unit that suits a low-maintenance household. Many carry battery-backup electronic ignition, the same feature that lets them still throw heat when the power's out. On those there is nothing burning to relight; you check the batteries behind the louver and the wall switch first. The historic homes off Main Street are where you'll find an actual standing pilot with a printed lighting label you can follow safely. The practical upshot for most Hendersonville homeowners with the newer sealed units: you almost never touch a knob — the fireplace just runs off a switch or a remote — so if yours suddenly won't start, think battery and switch before you think problem.
The line we won't let you cross
Relighting a standing pilot is homeowner operation. Everything behind it is licensed gas work — in North Carolina a mason or a furniture showroom can sell a firebox but legally can't touch the gas side, and neither should you. Replacing a thermocouple or cleaning a clogged pilot is our job as the licensed contractor. Two stop signals: a gas smell means leave and call from outside, and a pilot that won't hold points to a fouled sensor, not your technique. Hendersonville's clay-heavy soil settles foundations and stresses older masonry chimneys, which is its own reason to have an aging gas hearth looked at. An annual check late in the summer keeps the whole thing boringly reliable, which is exactly what this crowd wants. We're 25 minutes south — (828) 545-0525.
Fireplace help in Hendersonville
We install and service fireplaces throughout Hendersonville and the rest of Henderson County — just 25 minutes south from our Asheville-area showroom.
Related questions
- How do I light the pilot light on my gas fireplace?
- How long should I wait before trying again if the pilot doesn't catch on the first try?
- How do I completely shut off the gas to my fireplace, and where is the shutoff valve?
- I rent my home — is it OK for me to light the pilot and use the gas fireplace myself, or should I go through my landlord?
- Do I need to relight the pilot after my propane tank runs empty or the gas is shut off for service, and is there air in the line to work through?