Leo Casey torched the pile of notes at a house he was renovating in Sherwood, Nottingham, after locking himself inside.
When police arrived following a call from partner Gabriella Augustynowicz, the 63-year-old ignited a bundle of £20 notes and threw it out of a window.
Officers then noticed smoke coming from the Edgingley Road property, where Casey was setting fire to a pile of money on the upstairs bathroom floor.
Nottingham Crown Court heard it was impossible to determine the exact sum of cash destroyed.
But Recorder Shaun Smith QC said: "The loss to you in this case is somewhere in the region of £17,000.
"That is a substantial loss."
Mr Smith said the defendant had been "under severe personal pressure" at the time of the incident in July last year.
Casey, now of Sinfin in Derby, admitted committing arson recklessly and was sentenced to an 18-month community punishment with 18 months' supervision.
What was he at? I could have done with some of that!!
People with money to burn
, what a idiot .
