Water heaters are used in homes, businesses and in just about any establishment having the need for heated water. A conventional water heater typically has at least one heating element or “heater,” such as a gas-fired burner and/or electric heating element. Gas-powered appliances typically have some control system included for controlling the operation of the appliance. In this context, a gas-powered appliance may be a water heater, a fireplace insert, a furnace, a gas stove, or any other gas-powered appliance. Also in this context, “gas-powered” typically means that natural gas or liquid propane gas is used as a primary fuel source, but it should be recognized that “gas-powered” may also include any other suitable fuel source either in a liquid or gaseous state, as desired.
In the case of a gas-fired burner, a redundant gas valve is typically provided to control the flow of gas to the burner. In warmer climates, water heaters may be located outside the home. A manual gas valve may be manually turned on, and the burner may be manually lit once or twice a day as needed (or on demand). In this case, the manual gas valve may function as a redundant gas valve. Also, a pilot system is not required. What would be desirable is an economical robust gas valve that is suitable for such manually actuated lower demand systems.