Electric insert vs gas insert — which is better for an existing fireplace?
In Weaverville it depends on which house you own: for the older downtown homes with an inefficient original firebox, a gas insert delivers the 70-percent-plus heat that opening never had. In a new Reems Creek build where you just want flame in a bonus room, an electric insert plugs in and does the ambiance job for less.
New Reems Creek build or old downtown firebox?
Weaverville is splitting into two housing stories. Out in Reems Creek, new construction is going up fast, and a fireplace there is often about looks in a finished basement or bonus room — an electric insert, the Dimplex IgniteXL we carry with its flame-only summer setting, slides in, plugs in, and gives you a convincing flame for around 5,000 BTU of supplemental warmth. Downtown, the older homes carry original masonry fireboxes that lose more heat than they make. That is where a gas insert earns its keep: sealed, blower-equipped, 70 percent efficient or better, turning a heat-losing hole into the warmest room in the house.
The gas path in Buncombe County
Weaverville runs on natural-gas mains, which makes a gas insert straightforward to fuel — we run a stainless liner down the chimney, tie into the main, pull the Buncombe County permit, and meet the inspector, all licensed gas work and squarely our trade. An electric insert needs none of that; we block off the flue and wire or plug it in. Weaverville's north-facing valley is slow to warm in spring, so the heating season stretches — one more reason the room you live in benefits from gas's real output while a secondary space gets by fine on electric. We are 15 minutes south; call (828) 545-0525 for a free in-home assessment.
Fireplace help in Weaverville
We install and service fireplaces throughout Weaverville and the rest of Buncombe County — just 15 minutes north from our Asheville-area showroom.
Related questions
- Wood-to-gas vs wood-to-electric conversion — which is better for my fireplace?
- Electric fireplace insert vs electric log set — which should I put in my old fireplace?
- Does an electric fireplace put out as much heat as a gas fireplace?
- Which is cheaper to run, a gas fireplace or an electric fireplace?
- Which fireplace still works during a power outage — gas, wood, or electric?

