Why does my pilot light blow out on windy days?
In Canton, we treat a windy-day pilot outage as a reason to inspect the whole gas and venting path — Pigeon River valley flooding left many hearths and gas appliances water-damaged, and a corroded cap, rusted damper, or compromised connection lets wind reverse the draft onto a weak pilot. We check the flame, the fuel connection, and the termination together.
After the flooding, inspect before you relight
Canton's mill-town homes along the Pigeon River took on water, and a lot of the fireplaces and gas appliances down here needed real attention afterward — rusted dampers, corroded caps, and gas connections worth a careful look. A fireplace that now blows its pilot out on windy days may be telling you the venting or the connection took damage. That's not something to keep relighting. We inspect the gas connections and the full vent path first, because on a system that's been through a flood the wind is often just exposing the weak point.
Valley fog keeps the corrosion coming
Even setting the flooding aside, Canton's valley floor holds morning fog and dampness that rusts dampers and chimney caps earlier than folks expect. A pitted, ill-fitting cap is exactly what lets a gust drive cold air back down the flue and snuff the burner. On open masonry and B-vent systems that termination is usually the culprit; a sealed direct-vent unit should shrug the weather off, so repeated outages there mean the cap or seal needs attention. Either way, a strong pilot resists wind a weak one can't.
Licensed work, permitted and tested
Reconnecting or tuning a gas appliance and opening the sealed control is licensed gas work — and after water damage, pressure-testing the line matters more than ever. We permit what we touch with Haywood County and meet the inspector. We're about 20 minutes west, and most of these end in an inexpensive cleaning, a new cap, or a connection repair quoted up front. Call (828) 545-0525.
Fireplace help in Canton
We install and service fireplaces throughout Canton and the rest of Haywood County — just 20 minutes west from our Asheville-area showroom.