How to Relight a Gas Stove Pilot Light

Relighting a gas stove pilot light requires some basic coordination skills. After a successful relight, you will be able to use your appliance normally. Pilot lights without a safety button may leak ,and when this happens you will smell the gas. Turn off the gas valve and allow the gas to dissipate before attempting to relight the pilot light.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Lighter

Relighting Your Gas Stove's Pilot Light

1. Determine whether your gas pilot light has a safety button; if not you will need to locate the main gas valve and turn it off to allow the gas that has been leaking to dissipate before continuing with the relighting process. Ventilate the area. Assuming that your pilot light has a safety button that turns off the gas automatically if it's blown out by wind or drafts, locate its position. Somewhere close to the safety button there will be a metal plate with instructions to relight the gas pilot light. If the plate is missing, the following method should work.

2. Press the safety button continuously for three seconds. During this time, the gas will start to be released. As the gas is being released, light the gas jet and release the safety button at the same time; you should now have a blue flame. The safety button is there to stop the gas when it's accidentally blown out, and to prevent children from playing with the gas controls by making it difficult for them to operate the appliance unsupervised.

3. If your appliance has no safety valve and you followed Step 1, now is the time to relight your gas pilot light manually. Turn the gas back on at the main valve, making sure that the stove knobs are all set to the "off" position. Take your lighter and place by the gas jet. It should light immediately with a blue light. Use your appliance as normal.

Tips & Warnings

• If you smell gas or a rotten egg smell and your pilot light is lit and your knobs are all set to the "off" position, evacuate your house and call your gas company from a neighbor's house to report the leak immediately.

Resources

• Lighting Your Gas Pilot
• Gas Pilot Info.
• Natural Gas Safety