On Friday, December 18, 2015 at 2:04:56 AM UTC-6, M. Stradbury wrote:
On Thu, 17 Dec 2015 22:50:40 -0700, rbowman wrote:

The pilot lights go out. For furnaces and so forth once the pilot is out
the valve should shut off until you relight the pilot. I have a gas
range where the pilot would continue to leak gas until it's lit. No big
deal since the flow is so low.

This house has no pilots other than, I guess, the hot water heater.
The gas stove & the gas fireplace is electrically ignited.
So is the furnace.
I think the hot water heater has the typical big red knob & pilot light.

So, I guess, if the gas runs out, the only problem is that the pilot
goes out, so, we'd simply turn off the big red knob.

Is that correct?

The gas valve is supposed to cut off if the pilot light goes out on your gas water heater. The pilot continuously heats a thermocouple which produces a small electrical current which keeps the gas valve open regardless of the position of the red knob unless it is manually turned to the "Off" position. The gas valve with pilot heated thermocouple is a very reliable system that's been around for a long time and is usually maintenance free. (€¢€¿€¢)

[8~{} Uncle Pilot Monster