Propane pilot light uses how much?

[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.