Do all gas furnaces use a pilot light to ignite the burner?
Do all gas furnaces use a pilot light to ignite the burner?
Newer gas furnaces (since about 2010) do not have a traditional pilot light that burns all the time. Instead they use electronic ignition systems that light only as needed.
What causes the pilot light on a gas furnace to go out?
Continue to 6 of 9 below. On older furnaces, the standing pilot light can go out due to a strong draft, a dirty orifice in the pilot burner, or dirt in the gas tube. Or, the thermocouple may be faulty, causing the gas supply to shut off. Luckily, relighting your pilot light is fairly simple.
What does the standing pilot light on a gas burner do?
No matter what you call it, the purpose is to serve as a small ignition flame for the gas burner. When the thermostat signals for gas to be delivered from the gas valve to the burner, the standing pilot ignites the gas flowing to the burners to heat the air in the combustion chamber.
What kind of ignition does a gas furnace use?
Newer conventional furnaces do not rely on a standing pilot to ignite the gas burners, but rather make use of electronic components. Electronic ignition occurs typically in one of two ways: intermittent pilot or hot surface ignition.
What does it mean when your furnace is not igniting?
The oldest way is by a pilot light and over the last 30 years or so these have been replaced by electronic ignition systems. If these fail to do their job your furnace will not come on. This is a small flame which is constantly burning inside your furnace. It’s so small it does not consume much gas.
Continue to 6 of 9 below. On older furnaces, the standing pilot light can go out due to a strong draft, a dirty orifice in the pilot burner, or dirt in the gas tube. Or, the thermocouple may be faulty, causing the gas supply to shut off. Luckily, relighting your pilot light is fairly simple.
No matter what you call it, the purpose is to serve as a small ignition flame for the gas burner. When the thermostat signals for gas to be delivered from the gas valve to the burner, the standing pilot ignites the gas flowing to the burners to heat the air in the combustion chamber.
Newer conventional furnaces do not rely on a standing pilot to ignite the gas burners, but rather make use of electronic components. Electronic ignition occurs typically in one of two ways: intermittent pilot or hot surface ignition.
The oldest way is by a pilot light and over the last 30 years or so these have been replaced by electronic ignition systems. If these fail to do their job your furnace will not come on. This is a small flame which is constantly burning inside your furnace. It’s so small it does not consume much gas.