Does replacing an open wood fireplace with an insert improve the air in my house?
Yes — and in Canton, where Pigeon River valley flooding left water-damaged hearths and gas appliances behind, that upgrade often comes paired with a needed safety check. Flood-corroded dampers and firebox parts no longer seal, so an open fireplace spills more smoke indoors. A sealed insert on inspected gas connections fixes the air and the safety together.
Inspection before anything else
Homes along the Pigeon River took on water, and submerged gas connections, valves, and dampers simply can't be trusted until a licensed contractor inspects and pressure-tests them. In Canton that step isn't optional — it's the line between a safe install and a slow leak. So when we replace a flood-damaged open fireplace with a sealed insert, we pull the permit with Haywood County, inspect and pressure-test the gas line, and meet the inspector, verifying the whole system rather than just bolting in a new box. Permitted work also protects your home sale and your insurance, which unpermitted gas or hearth work can quietly void.
Cleaner air on a system you can trust
Valley-floor fog and dampness rust dampers and chimney caps early here, which only adds to how much smoke an aging open hearth leaks into the room. A sealed insert — an EPA-certified wood unit with a fresh stainless liner, or a direct-vent gas insert on inspected piping — keeps combustion behind glass and vents it cleanly outside. You stop breathing the fine particulate, you get real heat instead of the open box's net loss, and in a wood or millivolt-gas unit you keep that heat when the next storm drops the power.
Rebuild it right, once
If you're already repairing flood damage, it's the moment to retire the old open box for good rather than patch it back to how it was. Doing the hearth and gas work while things are open is cleaner and cheaper than reopening later, and you come out with verified connections and clean indoor air instead of a question mark. Twenty minutes west of our Asheville showroom. Free assessment at (828) 545-0525.
Fireplace help in Canton
We install and service fireplaces throughout Canton and the rest of Haywood County — just 20 minutes west from our Asheville-area showroom.
Related questions
- Do wood-burning fireplaces pollute the air inside your house?
- Will converting my wood fireplace to gas improve my indoor air quality?
- Does a wood-burning insert pollute less than an open fireplace?
- Will a gas insert seal off the drafts and old smoke odors coming from my open fireplace chimney?
- Does closing the glass doors on a wood-burning fireplace keep smoke out of the room?