temping the tank again many manufacturers may prefer a standing pilot system that does not require additional outside electricity to be introduced or new flue piping added the algorithm herein may allow manufacturers to maximize insulation on a tank to reduce standby losses prevent a water vessel from becoming overheated due to the minimum size orifice needed for the standing pilot application introduce intermittent spark as an approach to relight the pilot when tank is at setpoint during standby and also use short pulse burns with the pilot to keep the tank at setpoint for long periods of time without the need to fire the main burner fig3 is a flow diagram showing temperature control using basic discrete open and closed positions of a damper at symbol 73 may be a question of whether the main burner is on or there is a request to turn the main burner on if the answer is yes the damper is opened at symbol 74 if the answer is no then a question of whether the temperature is greater than a desired temperature may be asked at symbol 75 if the answer is yes then the damper is opened at symbol 74 if the answer is no then the damper is closed at symbol 76 the positions of the damper may be fed from symbols 74 and 76 to symbol 73 fig4 is a flow diagram showing temperature control using variable or partially open and partially closed positions of the damper at symbol 78 may be a question of whether the main burner is on or there is a request to turn the main burner on if the answer is yes then the damper.