Hello from California!

I just moved into an older home that has an older gas furnace/heater that is built into the wall. The brand is "Westwood" and it's approximately 16x66 inches. It sticks out about 4 or 5 inches on each side of the wall (one side heats the living room, and the other side heats the hallway).

I notice that heat is coming from the heater even when the thermostat is in the off position. The thermostat is located on the wall... about 20 feet from the heater-- a red wire and white wire goes under the house connecting the thermostat to the heater. The heater does have a pilot light.

When I stand next to either side of the heater, I can feel that heat is coming from it (it's noticable-- more than what a pilot light should do). I think this is responsible for drying out the air in the house. As Summer is coming, I'd like to fix this so that no extra heat comes from my heater.


Any suggestions would be much appreciated! The house was built in the late 1940's. I'm not sure how old the heater is, but it must be at least 30 years old.

Thanks!
:)

P.S. On the hallway side of the heater, near the top, is a little chain. It looks like a pull chain and is the same type of chain as you'd find on the necklace of a military dog tag. I've no idea what that chain is for. Any ideas?

Here is the heater:
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a226/cmshowbiz/IMG_6845.jpg
Pull chain is below
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a226/cmshowbiz/IMG_6847.jpg

If the pilot light is adjusted to high its like a small burner on all the time a rusted out pilot orifice will cause the flame to be high also. The blower on that style works off a temp act switch. Is the fan cycling on and off with the thermostat off? If not I would say you are getting your heat from the pilot assembly. It won't hurt to turn the gas off to the wall furnace for the summer and get it checked out next winter.

Hi T-Top,

Thanks for the reply. The heat is a constant thing. I don't hear a blower/fan come on and off. It's just heat that I feel coming from the unit when I stand in front of it. From your answer, I now think it is the pilot light. I'll look into lowering the flame, and/or replacing the orifice (if needed), etc. If I can't lower it easily, I'll take your advice and turn the gas off to the wall furnace for the summer. Thanks again!