Is it worth replacing my old open-front B-vent gas fireplace with a sealed direct vent unit?
For most Asheville homes, yes — because at 2,134 feet the nights stay in the 20s well into spring, so a fireplace here earns its keep as heat, not just decoration. An open-front B-vent burns the room air you already paid to warm; a sealed direct-vent unit takes its air from outside and hands the heat back to you. Purely ambiance a few nights a year? Less pressing.
Montford's old flue versus a South Asheville clean-face
Asheville is really two fireplace towns in one. In Montford, North Asheville, and the older West Asheville streets, a B-vent gas unit was often dropped into a chimney built for wood decades ago — it leans on that tall masonry flue and gives back very little. In the newer South Asheville builds, homeowners are already choosing clean-face sealed boxes for the look and the warmth. Swapping an open-front B-vent for a direct-vent unit like Napoleon's Ascent 36 or the linear Vector 50 closes that gap: a glass-fronted, sealed firebox that heats the room instead of the chimney.
Since we're right up the road on Emma Rd
Our showroom sits at 629 Emma Rd in West Asheville, so an in-home look at your chase and gas run is a short drive, not an expedition. A replacement is a real job: the old firebox and its B-vent come out, new venting goes in to the direct-vent unit's spec, and the gas line is remade, pressure-tested, permitted with Buncombe County, and signed off by the inspector. That gas work is licensed work in North Carolina — a showroom or a mason can sell the box but can't legally connect it. Gas fireplace installation generally runs $3,500–$8,000 installed, depending on the unit and the venting. Come see the options in person, then let us quote yours free.
Heat that outlasts the power
There's a second reason Asheville homeowners make this move. When the grid goes down, a sealed direct-vent unit with battery-backup or millivolt ignition still lights — the Valor H5 runs with no blower and no circuit board at all — while central heat quits the moment the power does. Trading an open-front relic for a sealed unit buys you a warm room on the coldest, darkest night of the year. Call (828) 545-0525.
Fireplace help in Asheville
We install and service fireplaces throughout Asheville and the rest of Buncombe County — we're headquartered right here.
Related questions
- What's the difference between direct vent and B-vent gas fireplaces?
- Which is more efficient, a direct vent or a B-vent gas fireplace?
- Is a B-vent fireplace the same thing as a natural vent fireplace?
- Why do direct vent fireplaces have sealed glass fronts while older gas fireplaces are open?
- Is it better to vent a direct vent gas fireplace out the wall or up through the roof?