Does high elevation affect how my gas fireplace burns?
Swannanoa is rebuilding after the storm, and the wave of new fireplace and stove installs going into repaired homes is a real chance to get elevation right from the start. At 2,150 feet on the natural-gas mains, a sealed direct-vent unit sized and orificed at install burns clean here — no altitude surprises once it's set up properly.
New installs, done right the first time
Recovery from storm damage has driven a lot of new fireplace and stove work in rebuilt Swannanoa homes, and that's the best possible moment to specify correctly — a sealed direct-vent unit with its orifice and manifold pressure matched to 2,150 feet, permitted and pressure-tested, replacing the old Grovemont-era open masonry that was there before. Many of these homeowners lived through multi-day outages when the grid went down; a millivolt or battery-backup gas hearth keeps producing heat when the power doesn't. Our [backup-heat guide](/guides/backup-heat-power-outage-wnc) covers the outage angle.
Fog, cold-air pooling, and draft
The Swannanoa River valley is prone to fog, cold-air pooling, and damp air, and all of that is hard on masonry chimneys — a deteriorating flue drafts poorly, which can mimic a burn problem while having nothing to do with altitude. A new sealed direct-vent install resists it by not depending on the old chimney at all.
Buncombe County, 15 minutes east
We permit with Buncombe County and set every unit up for the mountain it sits on. Rebuilding a hearth? Call (828) 545-0525 for a free in-home assessment.
Fireplace help in Swannanoa
We install and service fireplaces throughout Swannanoa and the rest of Buncombe County — just 15 minutes east from our Asheville-area showroom.
Related questions
- Why is black soot forming on my gas fireplace logs?
- Why does my gas fireplace burn differently after being converted between natural gas and propane?
- Why are my gas fireplace flames suddenly too tall?
- Why does my gas fireplace flame look lazy or weak?
- Why is my gas fireplace putting out less heat than it used to?