Does high elevation affect gas fireplace installation or performance?

Propane and altitude, dialed as a pair

Out here the cabins and many downtown homes run on propane, not a natural-gas main — and propane already needs its own orifices and higher pressures than natural gas. Layer Brevard's elevation on top and you've got two adjustments that have to be made at once. An LP appliance jetted for sea level, or worse, left on natural-gas jets, will burn rich: heavy soot, a lazy flame, and heat that never reaches the spec-sheet number.

We set the fuel and the altitude at the same time and tune the flame before we leave.

Rain, moisture, and the chimney chase

Brevard gets 80-plus inches of rain a year, and that soaks crawl spaces and chimney chases, cracks crowns, spalls brick, and rusts dampers. Moisture also makes draft harder to establish — which already gets tougher at elevation. For a lot of homes near Downtown Brevard, Connestee Falls, or Sherwood Forest, a sealed direct-vent unit sidesteps the draft problem entirely, venting straight out a sidewall instead of fighting a wet, cold flue.

Permitted through Transylvania County

We permit the gas line with Transylvania County and meet the inspector — and as a licensed gas contractor, connecting propane is work we're legally allowed to do that a showroom or mason isn't. We're about 40 minutes southwest of the Asheville showroom. Call (828) 545-0525 for a free in-home assessment.