Gas Stove Pilot Light Gas Use?

This is a kind of silly question, but it can't hurt to ask : the pilot light in our gas stove (one of those living room supplemental heat / decorative units) is... to put it lightly, huge. We used the stove only a handful of times in the past month and yet somehow used 100 dollars worth of propane ( the stove is the only thing using the propane, right now ). I realize these things aren't at all efficient, but my question is :

- is the pilot light deceiving, or do some of them really use a larger-than-normal amount of gas
- is there any harm, aside from the hassle, in turning the pilot off and re-igniting by hand every time we use the thing (once a week if that, usually less)?

Here's a picture of the stove for reference (pic is from the summer, we don't put things on top / near it in the winter, obviously)