Originally Posted by
oftpiste
Only true commercial ranges have pilots and for this reason, among others, they're generally not covered by home insurance policies. I've done a LOT of research, as I'd like to have one very much (I'd just disable the pilots and hand-light with a wand), and I have NEVER been able to get a straight answer about insurability of a true comm'l range in a residential application.
I've asked a lot of people including brokers and it's always an ambiguous answer which basically means, "don't ask, don't tell, and hope no one figures it out if your house burns down". I've yet to get comfortable with that notion, though I have seen them in many homes over the years.
Tell yer pal to disable the pilots if it's costing that much. Unless he has a commercial sprinkler setup it's probably a little dangerous to have them running all the time. The ranges we're talking about use piezo ignitors so no pilot issues.