Fireplace help for Sacramento-area homes

Last updated November 3, 2026 · Reviewed by the Fireplace Helpline tech team

Gas emergency numbers in the Sacramento area

• PG&E: 800-743-5000, or 911. PG&E says that if you smell gas or suspect an emergency, leave the area now and call 911, then call PG&E.

If your gas bill shows a different company's emergency number, use the number on your bill. Foothill homes past the gas mains often use a propane tank instead; see the propane section below.

How Fireplace Helpline works in the Sacramento area

We're a video service, not a local shop, and we don't have an office in the Sacramento area. You book a call, point your phone at the fireplace, and a real fireplace tech guides you by voice. Many problems can be diagnosed, and often fixed, in one call. If yours needs hands-on work, tell us your ZIP code and we'll help you find a local pro.

Flat prices, shown before you book: Quick Fix $49 · Full Diagnostic $89 · Priority Fix $139.

A gas-heated state, with real valley winters

64% of California homes heat mainly with natural gas and 20% with electricity (EIA, 2020). The Sacramento Valley gets colder, foggier winter nights than the coast, so a gas insert or log set here often does some real heating from November on, and a pilot that sat off all summer is the usual first problem. Down I-80 in the Bay Area, see San Francisco-Oakland.

No Burn Days don't apply to gas fireplaces

From November through February, the Sac Metro Air District's Check Before You Burn law restricts wood burning in Sacramento County, including Sacramento, Elk Grove, Folsom, Citrus Heights, Rancho Cordova and Galt, when fine-particle pollution is forecast to be high. On a Stage 2 day all solid-fuel burning is banned, including wood, pellets and manufactured fire logs. Devices that run only on natural gas or propane are exempt, so a gas fireplace or gas log set can still be used. If a No Burn Day is when you find out your gas insert won't light, a tech can help by video.

Relighting a pilot, the PG&E way

PG&E says that if a pilot light is out, shut the gas off at the appliance's shutoff valve and wait five minutes for the gas to disperse before trying to relight it, then follow the manufacturer's instructions, which are often inside the burner compartment door. If you can't relight it yourself, it says to call PG&E or another qualified professional. A tech can walk you through your fireplace model's own steps on a video call.

Propane fireplace in the Sacramento area?

If your fireplace runs on propane (a tank or cylinders outside and a propane company that delivers, rather than a utility gas meter), the utility numbers above aren't your first call. Smell gas? Get out, then call your propane supplier, or 911, from outside. In California, 2% of homes heat mainly with propane (EIA, 2020).

Propane fireplaces have a few problems of their own: a low or empty tank, a fireplace that won't light after a refill, and a regulator buried in snow or ice. The propane industry's safety guide says that if your tank runs out, your propane supplier or a qualified pro should leak-check the system before the gas goes back on. Our guide covers the safe checks: propane fireplace won't light or stay lit.

Electric fireplaces in Sacramento-area homes

In newer subdivisions out toward Elk Grove, Folsom, Roseville and Rocklin, and in midtown apartments with no gas line to the living room, the fireplace is often electric. We help with those by video too. A tech starts with the safe checks: plugged straight into a working wall outlet (no extension cord or power strip), the breaker or GFCI not tripped, fresh batteries in the remote, and the maker's reset after a cool-down if the overheat switch shut it off. We'll never ask you to open the unit or touch wiring. See electric fireplace won't turn on.

Sacramento fireplace not working? Start here

• Pilot won't light: Clicking but no flame, or no spark at all. The usual causes, in order.
• Pilot lights, then goes out: It lights, but won't stay lit. Usually the flame isn't heating the sensor enough.
• Pilot is lit, burner won't come on: The pilot's burning but the main flame never comes up.
• Propane fireplace won't light: Low tank, a recent run-out or refill, or a regulator under snow. Safe checks first.
• Electric fireplace won't turn on: No power, no heat, or it shut itself off. The safe checks manufacturers list, in order.
• Remote not working: Batteries, switch position, then re-pairing. Steps from the manufacturers.
• Proflame 2 blinking red light: One, two or three red blinks on the control module. What each one means and what to do first.
• Need a replacement part? Send us your model and serial, and a tech matches the exact gas, propane or electric fireplace part.

Common questions

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