Propane pilot light uses how much?

[Richard]

We've got a ventless fireplace. It's a pain in the hiney to start it from scratch. We don't however, use it all the time so in general, I don't want to leave a pilot light on to "waste" any propane. I have now, left it on for about 2 days....and got me wondering how much propane have I wasted during that time.

So, I realize "it depends" on perhaps the size of the pilot.....

So as a seat of the pants guess.... if you have a 20 pound tank and are ONLY using the pilot.....how long before you think the tank will be dry and the pilot go out?

 

[tow653]

Not sure on usage,don't think its much,but the other problem is without the pilot light being left on,the venturi or opening easily becomes clogged. Ran into this problem this fall with patio heater that had been off since spring. Friend worked for appliance company and he always said to leave pilots lit.

 

[westcliffe01]

I have a marine LP heater in my hunting blind. The pilot and the insulation prevent stuff freezing when I am not there (water goes in a grizzly cooler). A 20lb cylinder will run the pilot for longer than 3 months at a time and that covers several hours of full time heating too. I should add that the piezo ignitor on the stove is pretty noisy too which is another reason I prefer to leave the pilot lit. When it warms up I will shut it down.

 

[davrow]

First Google article I found says 8 gallons of propane per month. True? I've no idea.

Should I Turn The Pilot Off On My Gas Fireplace During The Summer? | Anderson Fireplace

To answer your hypothetical question... 2 1/2 months.

 

[ray66v]

I turn my pilot out for the summer, because you actually can feel some warmth from it running continuously, in the summer heat.

But, it's not using enough gas that I would worry about it all winter.

I have a remote for my fireplace that turns it on automatically, if the furnace fails, or power goes out, and the temperature drops below the set point. Which has saved me more than once. None of that does me any good though, if the pilot is off.

 

[nybirdman]

Wow ,three months on a 20lb.tank .I always wondered myself,I have two units with standing pilots.They are lit in Oct.-Nov.and are on until warm weather.Never really worried how much fuel the pilots used.

 

[mfreund]

I understood the pilot light on say a furnace in the summer kept condensation from causing rust on the heat exchanger.

May be a old wives tale!

 

[Humblebub]

I have a wall furnace in my shop and to prevent it clogging I leave pilot lit in summer. My best estimate of cost to me at E C Canadian propane price $35 for non heating season.

 

[ray66v]

I understood the pilot light on say a furnace in the summer kept condensation from causing rust on the heat exchanger.

May be a old wives tale!

No modern furnace has a pilot light.

 

[kenmac]

Leaving pilot on will not prevent pilot from getting stopped up. Actually ,leaving the pilot burning may speed up the clogging process. As the pilot burns ,it brings air into the mixture via the air shudder . As it brings in this air to mix with the pilot gas to get the blue flame, dust is also brought into the mix. Dust will stop up the air shudder causing the pilot to lift off the thermocouple which causes pilot outages.

 

[MoKelly]

Our gas company (not propane but Natural Gas) says leaving the pilot light on results in about $5/month extra on the gas bill. They recommend turning the pilot off if the fireplace won't be used for a few days. They also recommend the pilot be shut off if you are going to be away from the house for a few days.

MoKelly

 

[mjarrels]

I could run my truck camper 3 cubic foot refrigerator/freezer for over 30 days on one 20 pound propane tank. Reefer/freezer basicly used a pilot lite.

mark

 

[boggen]

i prefer turning pilot off when not needed for a couple days. waste of gas.

corrosion i could never buy into that. granted i would imagine some areas of the US and world in general, some metals in some locations may be more prone to rusting vs others. but it would still be a hard sell to me. on other hand "dirty air" of fresh air being drawn in to keep pilot light going, and mucking things up i can believe. a couple vent-less heaters for 15 plus years, between summer/winter usage i can see the difference between turning off in spring and cleaning, and then come fall and cleaning before start up, there is a difference.

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as far as how much fuel a pilot light uses "depends"
a full tank of 20lb cylinder = a higher PSI being pushed to the pilot as a result more fuel is used to keep pilot on.
a tank that is about empty = less PSI being pushed to the pilot as a result less fuel is used to keep pilot on.

granted a regulator between tank and pilot light, keeps more of a steady pressure going to a pilot light when tank is full vs nearly empty. there is still a difference, regulators are not "perfect devices"

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this last cleaning on ventless heaters, used "kaboom" purple spray can, for cleaning kitchens / bathrooms. sprays a blue foam on, and within a few seconds turns white. only thing i have found to actually clean all the nook and crannies so much better. first time seeing nearly perfect flame "pilot and burners" as if they were new, vs being 15 plus years old.

 

[Raspy]

I had an eight gallon propane tank running a tankless water heater on my boat for years. I could really tell the additional use when I left the pilot on. Can't give the actual use, but I did make a difference.

As far as lit vs. not lit causing trouble or clogging, it's a toss up, but I have cleaned a lot of pilot assemblies where the pilot was turned off to save gas at the end of the heating season and became clogged with a spider's nest. Left on, the pilot air filter can clog (if it has one) or carbon can build up in the burner assembly.

Propane is never as trouble free as natural gas. If you are willing to work on it yourself, I'd put out the pilot for the off season months and carefully re-light it when needed.

 

[zionview]

When I helped with installations years ago, the rule of thumb was around a gallon a month. I had a stove installed for backup last year, and their estimate was 4 gallons a month. Looks like the same flame as it did years ago.