Can I put a gas insert into an outdoor wood-burning fireplace?

Which path suits your patio

Asheville's outdoor fireplaces split about the way its houses do. The older masonry hearths behind Montford and North Asheville homes were built for wood, and the cleanest way to add gas is an outdoor-rated log set that drops into the existing firebox and keeps every bit of the stonework's character. Out in the newer South Asheville builds, where the patio was drawn with clean lines, a sealed purpose-built outdoor unit from Napoleon or Heat & Glo — stainless parts, weather-rated electronics — usually delivers the look you were after.

At 2,134 feet our evenings sit in the 20s well into spring, so an outdoor fire feature here earns its keep most of the year. That's reason enough to do it once and do it right, rather than force an indoor box into weather it can't take.

The gas line is our lane

Most of Asheville runs on the natural-gas mains, so fueling the patio usually means tapping your existing meter and running a buried, outdoor-rated line to the firebox, sized for the burner. That connection is licensed work — the mason who laid your stone legally can't make it in North Carolina. We run the line, pull the Buncombe County permit, meet the inspector, and pressure-test before we ever light it.

See both lit before you decide

This is an easy call to make in person. Our showroom is right here at 629 Emma Rd, so you can stand in front of an outdoor-rated log set and a sealed outdoor unit, see the flame on each, and tell us which one belongs on your patio. We'll read your firebox's size and condition and give you the straight recommendation — no push toward the bigger job. Call (828) 545-0525.