Should my back boiler pilot light be on?

[Wafflesnaffler]

Please could I pick the brains of anyone who has a back boiler? We've just moved into our new house and it has a back boiler, which I haven't got a clue about. The water is heated by the immersion, and we don't have the heating on at the mo. Does this mean I should turn off the pilot light on the back boiler? It's sssshhhhhing away quietly to itself, unnerving me...but I'm scared to put it out in case I have some kind of problem getting it back on, or in case it's serving some vital unknown function which I have overlooked. But seems wrong to have it on if it's for no reason. Any advice gratefully received :)

If it has a pilot light, it should be on.

A back boiler with a pilot light is probably quite old. If you turn it off it might not relight when you want it on again.

Energy from electricity costs about three times as much as energy from gas, so your immersion heater might not be economical. Try each, in turn, fir a week, carefully noting both meter readings at start and end of each week, and see what each costs.

When the backboiler has its annual service, and the heating engineer fir the make, model and year of manufacture, and write them down so you can look up its efficiency.

A hot water cylinder, and the hot pipes, need to be well insulated. What colour is yours?

Thanks so much PigletJohn, that puts my mind at rest :) We are aiming to redo the lot out asap, but for now just wanted to know what to do with it! What colour is the cylinder, do you mean? If so it's a kind of bronzey-gold colour. Sorry if that's not what you were asking! Thanks again.

if it is bronze, then it is not insulated. Fit it with two red jackets, one on top of the other, which you can get from a builders or plumbers merchant (at this time of year, hardware shops and DIY sheds may not stock them) and insulate the hot pipes with stiff foam lagging which you can cut with a breadknife. Measure the pipes so you get the right size, they are probably 22mm. The savings in wasted fuel will repay the cost in a matter of weeks.

Wow, thanks! Will do. It's very kind of you to help out so many people on here. Much appreciated :)