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amlutotoday at 3:16 PM1 replyview on HN

A pilot light is tricky: in typical designs, it needs to heat a thermocouple enough to produce enough current to drive a solenoid to allow the rest of the flame to ignite. Thermocouples are outrageously inefficient.


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NetMageSCWtoday at 6:00 PM

The pilot lights I’m familiar with just light the rest of the flame directly since they are burning already - turning on the fuel is all that is required. What systems uses a thermocouple and a solenoid?

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