Does replacing an open wood fireplace with an insert improve the air in my house?
Yes — and around Mars Hill, where rural Spring Creek and Gabriels Creek homes run on propane or wood, a sealed insert is the clean answer to indoor woodsmoke. An open fireplace leaks fine particulate into the room whenever the draft weakens. A direct-vent propane insert, or an EPA-certified wood insert, keeps combustion sealed and vented cleanly outside.
Two Mars Hills, one air problem
Mars Hill splits between university-area rentals near campus and rural valley homes out Spring Creek, Gabriels Creek, and Forks of Ivy that heat with propane or wood. In the rentals, easy-use fireplaces get run without much maintenance; in the rural homes, open hearths and wood heat carry the whole season. Both ends of town share the same underlying issue — an unsealed open box spilling smoke indoors — and it's amplified by the cold, since this is one of the colder spots we serve. The more the fireplace works, the more particulate an open one puts into the air you're breathing.
Sealed heat that fits how you burn
If you're on propane, a direct-vent insert seals combustion off completely, and a zero-electricity Valor Portrait keeps heating with the grid down — a real advantage on rural lines that fail in storms. If you're committed to wood, an EPA-certified Regency or Superior insert with a stainless liner burns dramatically cleaner than the open fireplace and keeps you fully independent of the power. Either path ends the indoor smoke and delivers real heat instead of an open box's net loss. Connecting propane is licensed work — we permit, pressure-test, and inspect every line.
Reliable heat, checked before winter
Up here at one of the colder spots we serve, a pre-season service call keeps a sealed unit dependable when you're leaning on it hardest — over the off-season, spiders and dust clog burners and pilots on any gas hearth. For rural homes where the power comes back last after a storm, that reliability is the whole point. Thirty minutes north of our showroom. Free assessment at (828) 545-0525.
Fireplace help in Mars Hill
We install and service fireplaces throughout Mars Hill and the rest of Madison County — just 30 minutes north 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?