I hope the dial stiffness / trickiness is not a sign that gas valve is going bad. The house is in California SF bay and we hardly need the heat here and would hate to spend big money to change out unit ( as the gas valve is no longer available)

Like I said mine was initially sticky as well, but it has loosened up since I started using it. I wish you the best of luck. These heaters I believe are 20+ years old.