Can I buy a fireplace online and hire someone local in WNC to install it?

Turning a heat-loser into a heater

Those 1980s-90s Arden fireplaces look fine but breathe warm air straight up the chimney, an open masonry firebox can actually run a net heat loss. Drop in a sealed gas insert with a correctly sized liner and you get a real heater running 70 percent efficient or better, flame at the flip of a switch. Which insert, and what liner, is an in-person sizing call, not something an online listing settles for you.

Arden's established Royal Pines and Skyland neighborhoods are full of these tired open fireboxes, and the upgrade path is well-trodden: a sealed gas insert, a correctly sized liner, and a clean connection to the natural-gas main. What varies is the firebox opening, the chimney condition, and the room's heat demand, which is why the sizing happens on-site. An online listing can't measure your opening or read your chimney; guess wrong and you own a unit that doesn't fit or doesn't heat the room it was meant to.

Natural gas, licensed connection

Arden is solidly on natural-gas mains, and connecting an insert to that line is licensed gas work in North Carolina, a mason or handyman legally can't do it. We pull the permit with Buncombe County, meet the inspector, and pressure-test the line. Buy the unit yourself and you're left hunting for someone willing to finish a purchase they didn't make.

One guarantee, 15 minutes south

When the appliance and the install come from us, the manufacturer's warranty stays intact, coverage usually depends on professional installation, and our workmanship guarantee sits behind the whole job. We're 15 minutes south; come see inserts sized for open fireboxes at our Asheville showroom. Call (828) 545-0525.