Is it greener to keep using my old fireplace or replace it with a cleaner new unit?
In Fairview, replacing an old open fireplace or a dirty pre-EPA stove is greener and safer at once — this is propane-and-wood country on big wooded lots, and creosote buildup from smoky, incomplete burning is the leading cause of chimney fires here. An EPA-certified wood insert burns hot and clean with far less creosote and smoke. A well-run certified stove is worth keeping.
Smoky burns, creosote, and cleaner combustion
Fairview is wooded rural lots up Cane Creek and Garren Creek where wood heat is a way of life — and that's exactly why clean combustion matters. An old open fireplace or a pre-2020 uncertified stove burns cool and incomplete, which throws far more particulate into the air and cakes creosote inside the flue, the top cause of chimney fires in these hollows without a fall sweep. So the least-green appliance is also the most dangerous one, wasting wood and heat while it fouls the air.
A cleaner, hotter, safer wood fire
An EPA-certified wood insert or stove from Regency or Superior burns hotter and more completely — 70% efficiency or better, a fraction of the smoke and creosote, and much more of your firewood turned into real heat. If you'd rather step away from wood entirely, Fairview is propane country past the mains, and a sealed propane insert like Kozy Heat's Springfield gives clean, near-instant heat with no smoke at all. Connecting propane or a gas line is licensed work — we permit with Buncombe County and pressure-test every connection.
When your stove stays put
If you already run a clean, EPA-certified stove and burn dry, seasoned wood correctly, keeping it is the greenest thing you can do — building a new appliance has its own footprint, and the environmental wins come from retiring open fireplaces and old uncertified stoves. We'd rather get you the right answer than the biggest job, and we'll pair any wood unit with a proper sweep schedule. Call (828) 545-0525 for a free assessment.
Fireplace help in Fairview
We install and service fireplaces throughout Fairview and the rest of Buncombe County — just 15 minutes east from our Asheville-area showroom.
Related questions
- Which is most environmentally friendly: a gas, wood, or electric fireplace?
- Does a wood-burning insert pollute less than an open fireplace?
- Does replacing an open wood fireplace with an insert improve the air in my house?
- How much cleaner is a new EPA-certified wood stove than an old one?
- Are there rebates or change-out programs for replacing an old wood stove?