No Pilot Light On My Furnace

Intermittent pilots still use a pilot light however it isn t a standing pilot light that remains on all the time to ignite the burner whenever the gas turns on.

No pilot light on my furnace. An operational pilot light in your furnace means safety from the possibility of a gas leak. If your furnace runs on natural gas the flame should be a bright blue with the tip of the flame having just a tinge of yellow. In this hvac training video i show up close how the thermocouple pilot light and gas valve work on a water heater furnace fireplace as well as other ap. Most furnaces with electronic ignition have a device called a hot surface igniter.

There are numerous things that may make the pilot light on your furnace to not stay lit. The pilot light faulty ignition sensor the pilot light or ignition sensor is usually the most common issue when your furnace will not ignite. A small heat sensing device known as a thermocouple makes sure gas flow is delivered to the main furnace burners only when it is warmed by the pilot light. If the pilot lights but the flame is weak and yellow it will not get hot enough to heat the thermocouple to its set point and allow the gas valve to open.

Modern furnaces tend to have an electronic igniter or a hot surface igniter and the pilot compartment is sealed so you couldn t light the pilot with a match even if you wanted to. But these are easy and infrequent repairs. Your furnace requires fuel to keep the pilot light engaged and the burners functioning. Constant flame or standing pilot heating systems are still fairly common in older homes and they can still be repaired in most cases.

All of these problems are not an issue when you have a modern furnace which uses electronic ignition instead of an old fashioned pilot light. This is a small electronic device that receives an electrical current whenever your thermostat calls for heat. If the pilot light will not stay lit it needs to be fixed asap to supply heat to your home and for safety reasons. Electronic ignition systems there are two basic types of electronic igniters in modern furnaces.

Instead they use electronic ignition systems that light only as needed. Occasionally a standing pilot light will need to be relighted or a thermocouple will need to be replaced. Newer gas furnaces since about 2010 do not have a traditional pilot light that burns all the time. Many electronic igniters and hot surface igniters come on automatically and if the furnace isn t working it s usually an electrical problem.