Gas Company Warns Against Pilot Light Tip
Don’t get out the kitchen matches just yet, says Southern California Gas Co.
The utility has received an estimated 10,000 calls to its service department from customers asking service technicians to come and shut off the pilot lights on their stoves to save energy.
The callers were responding to a suggestion by the Rocky Mountain Institute, a Snowmass, Colo., think tank. Tips for homeowners, excerpted from the institute’s forthcoming booklet, “Practical Home Energy Savings,” were published in The Times on Wednesday. The institute said turning off the pilot and lighting the stove with a match can save lots of natural gas.
But the idea violates the National Fuel Gas Code set by the American Gas Assn., the industry trade group, and adopted by the California Public Utilities Commission. It could also be dangerous and could void warranties on stoves, a gas company spokesman said.
Rocky Mountain Institute announced Thursday that the recommendation would be eliminated from its booklet before publication.
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