Why is there a small flame in my fireplace even when it's turned off?
That small flame is almost certainly your standing pilot light, and it's supposed to stay lit — a continuous flame that keeps the fireplace ready to fire instantly and, on many units, powers the controls without electricity. If you have a standing-pilot fireplace, that's normal, not a malfunction. Only worry if the main burner itself won't shut off.
Standing pilot by design
Older and many current gas fireplaces use a standing pilot — a small flame that burns around the clock whether the fireplace is "on" or "off." It's doing real work even when idle: it stays ready to light the burner the instant you flip the switch, and on millivolt systems it generates the voltage that runs the controls, which is exactly why these units keep making heat during a power outage. So a little blue flame down by the burner with everything switched off is the system behaving correctly.
Standing pilot versus electronic ignition
Newer electronic-ignition units — Napoleon's battery-backup models, Heat & Glo's IntelliFire, and similar — don't keep a flame going. They spark the pilot only when you call for heat, saving the small amount of gas a standing pilot uses. If your fireplace has no flame at all when off, you have electronic ignition; if there's always a small flame, you have a standing pilot. Both are legitimate designs. Many owners simply shut the pilot off for the summer and relight it in the fall.
When it's actually a problem
The small idle flame is only a concern if it's the main burner that won't extinguish when you shut the fireplace off, or if the "pilot" looks large, yellow, and sooty rather than small and blue. A burner that won't shut down points to a sticking gas valve — a safety item worth a prompt service call. If you're unsure which flame you're looking at, call (828) 545-0525 and we'll tell you over the phone.
Related questions
- How do I tell whether my gas fireplace has a standing pilot or electronic ignition?
- Why won't my gas fireplace turn off?
- Do gas fireplaces have batteries, and can dead batteries stop the fireplace from working?
- How do I relight the pilot light on my gas fireplace?
- Why does my gas fireplace pilot light keep going out?
- Why won't my gas fireplace turn on at all?
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