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Ease Rating: Medium

Carbon Emission Savings: 260 kg CO2e

Impact Rating (0-5): Impact = 0 (least) - 5 (most). This is a combination of a calculated scale and expert judgment in the absence of scientific data that directly quantifies the impact of a particular action.

5 - ~80% target progress (2,000+ kg CO2e)
4 - ~60% (1,000 - 2,000 kg CO2e)
3 - ~20% (500 - 1,000 kg CO2e)
2 - ~10% (100 - 500 kg CO2e)
1 - <10% (<100 kg CO2e)
0 - <1% (<30 kg CO2e)
2

No. of People Influenced Beyond You: 0.

Amount of Savings: $

Resilience Benefit: Will this action help the user avoid, reduce, or recover from the impacts of (climate-driven) disasters, and, in some cases, enable the user to help others (e.g., in a family or community)?
no

Impacts: 🔌 Save Energy

Categories: Energy



Description

A pilot light is a small flame that serves as an ignition source for a more powerful burner, such as water heaters, stoves, dryers, refrigerators, fireplaces, and heaters/boilers. Even when not in use for months, a pilot light traditionally has been kept permanently alight, but, frankly, this is wasteful. In domestic heating systems with pilot lights, it has been estimated that sometimes close to half of the total energy usage is actually from the pilot light.

Pilot lights also create a small amount of heat as a by-product. While this is not so bad in the winter when you need heat, it will contribute heat to your house in hotter months. Pilot lights also put out a small amount of fumes that are usually not drawn into a venting system — a double-whammy.

You can lower your yearly usage of energy on these types of appliances by shutting off the pilot light during the times of the year that you do not use them. Starting them back up again in winter can be as easy as lighting a match.



Tips

• Luckily, it is now becoming more common to light a burner electrically on stoves and some other appliances. However, pilot lights are still used when a high-energy ignition source is necessary, usually on fireplaces and furnaces.
• Check out your user manual to see if they use a pilot light. Having trouble finding your manual? Search online with the model number. Most devices have a simple valve to shut off the pilot light.
• Mark your calendar for the end of the heating season. It is easy to remember to turn it on, but you might forget to turn it off each year.

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