Does natural gas service usually stay on during storms and hurricanes in Western North Carolina?
Arden is on Buncombe County natural-gas mains, so yes — the buried supply generally holds pressure while a storm drops the power. What trips people up here isn't the gas; it's that the 1980s-90s homes in Royal Pines and Skyland have tired, drafty open masonry fireplaces that pull heat out of the room. A sealed insert on that main turns the weak link into your best heater.
Drafty open boxes into real heaters
The established Arden neighborhoods — Royal Pines, Skyland, Glenn Bridge — are full of open masonry fireplaces that were never efficient. An open box loses room heat up the flue even while it's burning, which is the last thing you want during a winter outage. Dropping a sealed gas insert into that masonry, fed by the natural-gas main already at the house, gives you a unit that actually throws heat and can run without electricity if you spec the igniter for it.
Why the main keeps its end of the deal
The gas serving Arden runs under its own line pressure through the buried distribution system — it isn't hanging on the poles and wires a storm takes down. So when the neighborhood loses power, the fuel usually keeps arriving. Match that with a millivolt or battery-backup insert and central heat quitting doesn't leave you cold. The Biltmore Park commercial spaces run on the same dependable supply.
Permitted with Buncombe County
Fitting an insert and connecting it is licensed gas work — we pull the Buncombe County permit, run and pressure-test the line, and meet the inspector. Just 15 minutes south of our Asheville showroom, so it's an easy visit. Call (828) 545-0525 to turn that open firebox into outage-proof heat.
Fireplace help in Arden
We install and service fireplaces throughout Arden and the rest of Buncombe County — just 15 minutes south from our Asheville-area showroom.
Related questions
- Is propane or natural gas more reliable during mountain storms?
- Can a gas fireplace heat my house through a multi-day outage like the one after Hurricane Helene?
- Which types of fireplaces work without any electricity?
- How much propane should I keep on hand for winter in the mountains?
- Is natural gas available in the Asheville area, or do most mountain homes run on propane?