Q&A for How to Light a Gas Fireplace

Is it controlled with a wall switch? The thermopile may not be conducting enough voltage to activate the switch. Try cleaning off the thermopile with some fine steel wool or sand paper.

Just turn the dial to "on" instead of "pilot" and then flip the switch on the side of your fireplace.

Yes. Burning logs produces carbon dioxide as well as carbon monoxide, so the open vent is needed to get these harmful gases out of the house.

No. The wall switch sends an electrical signal to your fireplace to open a valve and release the gas for the pilot light to light it. Without power most fireplace valves will not open.

No they do not. Though logs may make the fireplace look more appealing, they do not create the fire itself. As such, removing them will not affect the pilot light.

Your fireplace should have a mode where a pilot light stays lit continuously and the switch only switches the flame from the gas log burner. If this is the case, a standard line voltage thermostat can be substituted for the switch. (The button on the left side of the illustration is not a switch; it is a piezoelectric spark generator.)

No, unless there is no grate opening to the controls. Then call a professional.

It could mean the pilot light is out or that there is a leak somewhere in the system. Shut off the gas to that fireplace and call a professional.

The pilot light does not determine how much gas your logs receive. That is controlled by your device’s gas knob, typically located next to the control knob on panel-operated fireplaces or to the left or right of the main chamber on key-operated fireplaces. To increase the amount of gas your logs receive, turn the knob counter-clockwise.

Most gas fireplaces use a standing pilot light, meaning a small flame will stay lit at all times so that you can start a fire whenever you want. Because of this, you should turn off your fireplace’s gas source whenever you’re not using it, that way you don’t have a fire going 24/7.

You can leave it on while you clean the glass. Just don't leave the glass open for too long if the fireplace is a zero-vent model, as it will put a small amount of CO into the air with the glass open. Do not run the fireplace with the glass open.

It has a spring holding it outward on the dial shaft. You must push the dial face toward the valve, depressing the spring and enabling you to rotate the dial.

I recommend fixing the ignitor first. There is some likelihood that the wire from the ignitor to the pilot head is disconnected or not properly spaced from the pilot burner.

You should not. Generally, you open the grate under the fireplace by lifting it gently and pulling it out. It may be on hinges.

Yes, you can. You need to apply power to the valve so it stays open for as long as you keep it connected to a source of electricity.

You appear to have missed turning the wall switch to "ON." For the fireplace to function, the pilot must be lit first and have been lit for more than a few seconds. Then, the wall switch can enable the main burners to operate.