Lighting A Gas Floor Furnace

Floor furnaces are a source of heat installed below the floor.

Lighting a gas floor furnace.

If it s on you should be able to see a small flame. 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 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. Your pilot light might have gone out from a draft and you ll need to relight it to get your furnace working again. An older gas furnace has a standing pilot that stays on all the time or at least it s supposed to.

A pilot light going out can be inconvenient because it will completely cripple your furnace. The vent that distributes heat sits above the furnace and is covered by a metal grille at floor. Even the most energy efficient floor furnaces will not be as efficient as a traditional home furnace. A modern gas furnace usually has an electronic spark generator to ignite the gas when the thermostat calls for heat.

Bathrooms atriums and three season room additions present ideal opportunities for this type of heating system because gas floor furnaces provide direct convection type heat and also can reduce the humidity of the room. The gas may be the fuel but the pilot flame is the ignition and one that won t re light on its own. For better or worse a pilot light extinguishing isn t all that uncommon as even a light breeze or draft of air is enough to kill the tiny flame. Nevertheless if you are buying a new floor furnace aim for an afue rating of at least 70.

How to light a floor furnace pilot. A number of things can make an old furnace pilot light go out including a strong draft a faulty thermocouple or a loss of gas. This has played a large role in their declining status.