"EXT" wrote in message
anews.com...

"peter" wrote in message
news:vuwug.5313$Ss2.4793@trnddc01...
I have a gas water heater that doesn't use electricity. It works by
having
a bare copper wire conduct temperature out of the water tank into the
thermostat.

That is NOT a bare copper wire, it is a capillary tube that conducts a
liquid that is heated in the pilot light and uses the pressure to operate
the valve.


Wrong.

Good thought, though.

The Flame at the tip makes two different metals generate a very small amount
of electricity, in the milli-volt range. That electrical current is enough
to hold the pilot solenoid open. It won't open the pilot solenoid, that's
why you have to push the button when lighting the pilot.