Can I convert my wood-burning fireplace to gas?
Yes, and at nearly 2,650 feet Waynesville is exactly the kind of place a wood-to-gas conversion earns its keep — winters here run 10 to 15 degrees colder than lower WNC and the heating season stretches about three weeks longer than Asheville's. Those drafty old Hazelwood fireboxes leak heat, so most folks here choose a sealed insert over a decorative log set.
Cold-town math favors the insert
When your heating season is one of the longest we serve, the difference between ambiance and real heat stops being academic. An open masonry fireplace can actually lose net heat up the chimney, while a sealed gas insert commonly runs 70 percent efficient or better. That is why in Waynesville we usually point people toward a Kozy Heat insert — American-made in Minnesota and built for exactly this kind of long, cold winter — rather than a log set that is mostly for looks. Downtown, Frog Level, Hazelwood, and out toward Lake Junaluska, the drafty original fireboxes are the ones worth converting first.
Gas or propane — we check what is at your address
Waynesville is mixed fuel. Some homes tie into a natural-gas main; plenty of others, especially up the hollows, run on propane. That distinction changes the appliance itself — propane burns hotter per unit and needs different orifices and pressures, and a unit set up for the wrong fuel will soot and underperform. So before we design anything, we confirm your fuel. For the propane homes, the Kozy Heat Springfield 36 is a strong direct-vent performer, and we coordinate the tank with your propane supplier.
Licensed line, Haywood permit
Every conversion still needs the gas line brought to the firebox, and in NC that is licensed work — our lane, not a showroom's or a mason's. We permit with Haywood County, meet the inspector, and pressure-test before lighting. Waynesville is about 35 minutes west of our showroom. Call (828) 545-0525.
Fireplace help in Waynesville
We install and service fireplaces throughout Waynesville and the rest of Haywood County — just 35 minutes west from our Asheville-area showroom.