Is it safe to relight the pilot myself, or should a professional do it?
In Waynesville you'll relight a pilot more often than almost anyone we serve, and yes, doing it yourself on a standing-pilot unit is safe. At nearly 2,650 feet your heating season runs about three weeks longer than Asheville's, and a cold flue can make a fresh relight stubborn. Give it a moment to catch; if it still won't hold, call (828) 545-0525.
Why relights fight you up here
Elevation and cold are the story in Haywood County. When a chimney sits cold, the air inside it stacks up like a plug, and a just-lit pilot has to fight that column before the flame settles. On the coldest Waynesville mornings that's normal, and a standing pilot will usually take on the second honest try. What isn't normal is a pilot that lights and dies every time — that's a weak thermocouple or a pilot assembly clogged with the summer's dust and cobwebs, common in the older Hazelwood homes that lean hard on their hearths. Those repairs are licensed gas work, and ours to do.
Draw the line at repair
Lighting the pilot is yours; opening the valve or swapping the sensor is not — North Carolina reserves that for a licensed gas contractor, which is what we are. Stop and call rather than relight if you ever smell gas (leave first, call from outside) or if the flame burns lazy and yellow instead of a tight blue. Because Waynesville runs 10 to 15 degrees colder than the valley towns, a marginal pilot you baby through December tends to quit on the coldest night. Given how long winter runs at this elevation, a late-summer tune-up is the cheapest insurance you'll buy — we clean and test everything before you're depending on it, and most repairs finish in one visit with common parts already on the truck, so a January cold snap finds the pilot clean and the flame steady. We're 35 minutes west; call (828) 545-0525.
Fireplace help in Waynesville
We install and service fireplaces throughout Waynesville and the rest of Haywood County — just 35 minutes west 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?