This is a question people sometimes ask when they look at the furnaces professionals currently install in homes, or when they see a new furnace in a home. Most current homeowners likely grew up in houses with furnaces that used pilot lights, or owned a furnace with a pilot light. Yet the pilot light is becoming an endangered species in home heating.
What happened? Why has the standing pilot light been extinguished, and what took its place?
This isn’t just trivia questions. You can understand a good deal about your furnace’s operation and how it uses energy when you know a bit more about the fate of the standing pilot light.