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any new gas furnaces with pilot light?
QUESTION:Does any gas furnace manufacturer make one with a pilot light?
Do the hot bar ignitions on gas furnaces really save money, if
one includes the added costs of electricity and repairs (? - I'm
assuming an ignition system is more likely to fail than a pilot)?
ANSWER: No. It would be difficult for manufacturers to meet the minimum
efficiency standard (78%) if they used pilots.
Why would you assume that? Old is not automatically better than new.
There is no significant electricity cost, because the ignition only draws
electricity for a few seconds at a time. A pilot light, however, has to be
on all the time.
As for maintenance, the pilot needs a thermocouple in it to detect that the
flame is on (safety precaution; furnace won't send gas to burners unless
pilot is lit) The thermocouple needs to be changed every couple of years
(the maintenance people like to change it every year, but that's probably
not strictly necessary).
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