On 09/04/2014 09:00 AM, Arthur Conan Doyle wrote:
philo wrote:

She said the water heater is new, so it should not be dirty yet.

New is relative - in a dirty environment it doesn't take very long for the
honeycomb filter to get dirty.

OTOH, I just realized there is something fishy about this story...
I don't think they even make water heaters with pilot lights any more.

Pilots for gas water heaters are still quite common. It's not an energy loss
situation (like an oven range) because the heat from the pilot still goes into
the water.




My house is nearly 120 years old and the basement is pretty dusty and
I've never had any such problem.


I've been informed that they still do make water heaters with pilot
lights, so I know the OP is not trolling.

I did just recall however that I had a gas appliance (can't recall if it
was a drier or a water heater) with a pilot light adjustment.

If it was set too low it would alway go out...I'd check that .