A gas furnace s standing pilot in which the flame is lit at all times is sometimes referred to as a pilot light but no matter what you call it its purpose is to serve as a small ignition flame for the gas burner.
Wall gas furnace pilot light.
By cecilia harsch when the pilot on your wall furnace does not stay lit your furnace won t heat.
If your old gas furnace has a standing pilot you can follow a standard procedure to relight the pilot light.
Turn the gas control to pilot and hold it in while you light the flame with a match or a lighter.
If the pilot light will not stay lit it needs to be fixed asap to supply heat to your home and for safety reasons.
Keep the knob in for 20 seconds and then release it and turn it to the on position.
When the thermostat signals for gas to be delivered from the gas valve to the burner it is the standing pilot that ignites the gas flowing to the burners to heat the air in the combustion chamber.
A pilot light is a small continuously burning flame that is used to ignite the burners in older gas furnaces.
An operational pilot light in your furnace means safety from the possibility of a gas leak.