How to Light Your Gas Fireplace (Video)

For gas fireplace logs, lighting the pilot light each fall can be an intimidating chore for some people. It doesn’t need to be. It’s really quite simple, once you understand the basic mechanics behind the three-step / three-minute process it takes to turn on your gas logs. The process is essentially the same with any gas appliance but for today let’s use gas fireplace logs as our example.

Gas Light ON

The obvious first step to light your gas fireplace is to make sure the gas is turned on. If you haven’t used gas appliances over the summer you made need to check with your local gas company to assure that you have gas available. There is a safety cut-off valve inside your home, but you would know if that had been turned off at the end of last winter.

Find the Pilot Knob

Once your gas supply is assured, it’s a three-step process to turn your unit on. Start by finding the control knob, which is nearly always located at the bottom right corner of a gas fireplace log set. It’s very easy to distinguish as a black knob labeled with ON, OFF, and PILOT positions. The ON setting may have further high/low/medium settings, or a tapered bar indicating a built in thermostat that automatically turns the gas fireplace logs on and off according to your temperature preferences. For now, you need to set the knob at “PILOT” while you turn on the pilot light.

Ignite Gas Fireplace Logs

Near the on/off knob, there should be a red or black button, about ¾ of an inch long, labeled “Igniter” that simply pushes in just like on a gas grill. Once you’ve found it, press in the ON/OFF/PILOT knob and hold for about five seconds, then push the igniter. Keep holding the pilot knob and continue pressing the igniter until the pilot flame lights up.

Timing

If you’re simply reigniting the pilot after it went out, hold the pilot knob for about 20-30 seconds, or if lighting for the first time of the year hold it in for about a minute. This allows air to clear from the pipeline as the flame reaches its full temperature. Once the pilot is lit and stable, simply turn the knob to the “ON” position and watch your gas fire come to life! All that’s left to do is experiment with the thermostat settings to find the perfect temperature for your gas fireplace.

Looking for another great option for your outdoor space check out our available Fire Pits from top brands like Castelle, Lloyd Flanders, Tropitone, Homecrest Outdoor Living and Vin de Flame.