Pilot Light Delete

So the new place has a gas stove, which I have mixed feelings about.

First the good stuff. It's generally accepted that gas is easier to cook with than electric. You can turn the heat off immediately, and can adjust the heat more closely. I've gotten used to cooking on electric after doing it for the past year, so this one isn't a big deal. From a greenhouse gas perspective there's no inefficient power plant + transmission lines between the heat and your stovetop, so natural gas stoves emit less CO2 per unit of heat than electric ones. My old electric was especially bad, 'cause it had one of those clock/timer doohickies constantly sucking up juice.

Now, the bad news. With a gas stove less of the heat actually gets into the food. They mostly heat up the air around the pan, hoping that enough heat will conduct into the food before it rises away (to heat up your kitchen).

Moreover, a big (and avoidable) energy waster in natural gas stoves is the pilot light. Many older natural gas stoves have a always-on flame, constantly consuming energy on the off chance that you'll need to light a burner in the next half a second. Gas stoves with pilot lights use 40% more energy per month, on average.

Now, a homeowner could simply replace the stove: newer gas stoves have electronic ignition. This usually isn't an option for apartment dwellers like me, and even if it was allowed it doesn't make sense financially. For the renter on a 12 month lease there's no time to recoup the cost, and most of the time the landlord isn't paying for energy so there's no incentive on his part to buy better appliances. What's the next best thing? The pilot light delete.

Obligatory warning: The following actions are possibly dangerous, as a gas leak can cause explosive gas to build up in your apartment, resulting in an explosion or fire. If you're not confident around natural gas, don't do it or hire a professional. I am not responsible for any property damage, injury, or death as a result of anything you may undertake as a result of reading this. The following is for educational purposes only, showing the mod that I performed.

Now then, on to the mod!

Once the grilles were removed, I could take a peek inside.

Holy noodles! This thing looks like it hasn't been cleaned in decades. It was here I noticed another drawback of pilot lights – the heat attracts mice to live under there. Lovely.

This flame may look tiny, but since it's on all the time the energy waste is significant. The top of my stove was quite warm from having this little guy on all the time…

… yet there is a solution! This is the real money shot. The metal block is the backside of the oven control knob. After tracing the pipes it was pretty easy to figure out what everything was. From top to bottom we have: oven supply (big pipe going back and down toward the oven), thermometer (snakes down off through a hole in the top of the oven), oven pilot light (small pipe going back and down toward the oven), and the one I'm interested in: stove pilot light. This was easy to find, as the pipe goes straight to the pilot light. The screw on the pipe controls whether the pilot light is on and adjusts the flame height. You'll also notice the cylindrical splitter, since the left and right side actually have separate pilots.

So, trusty multi-tool in hand, I turned the screw clockwise to shut off the gas.

The next step is very important. I put my nose right up to the pilot light and smelled for gas, careful not to burn myself on the hot metal. Natural gas has that lovely rotting egg smell, so it is detectable at very low concentrations. Despite not smell too great under there I didn't get a hint of egg. I also tested for gas by holding a lit match to the pilot light. If you do smell gas even after fully closing the valve, just open it again and use a match to re-light the pilot – apparently your stove's pilot can be adjusted, but not shut off.

So now to light the stove I use the sparker on a long-neck lighter. Turn on the gas, spark, and it lights right up. It may be less convenient, but every time it reminds me of how much I'm saving!

The astute reader will also notice that I've only killed two out of three pilot lights: the oven's pilot is still on. However, the oven needs to turn itself on and off to maintain temperature, so it really does need one.

Happy modding,

Tom