Is it worth switching from a wood-burning fireplace to an electric fireplace?
In Arden, the honest answer is that most of these 1980s-90s open masonry fireplaces are already losing you heat — and electric doesn't fix that, it just makes the loss official. If you only want the look, electric is clean and cheap. But a sealed gas insert turns that tired Royal Pines or Skyland firebox into an actual heater, which is usually the smarter call.
Your open firebox is the real problem
The open masonry fireplaces in Arden's Royal Pines and Skyland neighborhoods pull warm air out of the room and send it up the flue — many run a net heat loss. Swapping to an electric insert stops the draft, but it replaces a poor heater with a decorative appliance that maxes out near 5,000 BTU and can't heat the room either. You've traded one non-heater for another, plus you've lost any outage backup.
Where electric is genuinely fine
If that fireplace has always been for looks and you're done with wood, electric is a clean, cool-to-the-touch, few-hundred-dollar answer — no ash, no sweeping, no cold-start smoke, and a Dimplex flame that reads convincingly. For a formal Arden living room used a handful of times a year, that's reasonable.
The upgrade that actually heats
Because natural gas serves Arden, dropping a sealed gas insert into that open box is a short conversion — 70% efficient or better, and power-optional with millivolt or battery-backup ignition so it keeps working when the grid drops. It fixes the draft and gives you real heat in one move. We pull the Buncombe County permit. Call (828) 545-0525.
Fireplace help in Arden
We install and service fireplaces throughout Arden and the rest of Buncombe County — just 15 minutes south from our Asheville-area showroom.
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