When you have a gas-powered appliance, it needs a source of ignition. Today, most have an electrical ignition, but in the past, this was done with a pilot light. A pilot light is a flame that is fed by a constant supply of natural gas that will then be available for ignition whenever needed.
The reason why pilot lights aren’t used much these days is because of their many shortcomings, so if you have an appliance that has a pilot light and you aren’t planning on upgrading it, you should be aware of the possible problems with a pilot light.
One small issue is the wasted gas. While it isn’t a lot of gas being used, the flame burns day in and day out and it does add up over time.
A more serious issue is what happens when the flame goes out. There are usually some kind of safeguards to prevent the gas from escaping into your home, but if it fails, you could have a lot of gas leak out into your home, which would make it very dangerous trying to ignite the pilot light again. To be on the safe side, make sure you always air out the room before trying to light a pilot light that has gone out.
