Is it cheaper to heat your house with wood or with gas?
In Waynesville you burn more heat than almost anywhere we serve, at nearly 2,650 feet, ten to fifteen degrees colder, with a heating season about three weeks longer than Asheville's, so fuel cost compounds fast. Cut-your-own wood is the cheapest way to feed that long winter; on the gas side it depends which fuel your road runs.
A longer winter compounds every difference
Because Waynesville runs its heat longer and harder than the lower WNC towns, small per-unit fuel differences add up over the season, and so does every bit of wasted heat. Three extra weeks of heating is three extra weeks of whichever fuel you chose, so the gap between a cheap fuel and an expensive one widens here more than it would in a milder valley. The more months you burn, the more the efficient appliance matters relative to the fuel price. If you own timber, wood is unbeatable; the cabins up these roads heat all season on chainsaw gas and a sharp blade.
Those drafty Hazelwood hearths
A lot of the older Hazelwood housing stock has open fireplaces that are drafty and can run a net heat loss, which is the most expensive firewood you will ever burn, no matter how cheaply you got the wood. A sealed wood insert, or the Regency Cascades F1500 wood stove at 78% efficiency with overnight burns, turns the same cordwood into far more usable heat and holds a fire while you sleep. That upgrade often saves more over a long Haywood winter than switching fuels would. Down in Frog Level and around Lake Junaluska the story repeats, old fireboxes leaking the heat you paid for, so we look hard at the appliance before we ever debate the fuel.
Mixed fuel, one licensed crew, Haywood permit
Waynesville is mixed gas and propane. If it is propane, it costs more per unit and burns hotter, needing the right orifices and pressures, which is licensed work in North Carolina and ours. We pull the Haywood County permit and meet the inspector. The showroom is 35 minutes east; call (828) 545-0525.
Fireplace help in Waynesville
We install and service fireplaces throughout Waynesville and the rest of Haywood County — just 35 minutes west from our Asheville-area showroom.
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