Is natural gas available in the Asheville area, or do most mountain homes run on propane?
Leicester leans toward propane and wood. It's rural Buncombe County — large properties out Sandy Mush, Turkey Creek, and Newfound Road, many past where the natural-gas main runs — so tanks and woodpiles do a lot of the heating, though homes closer to town sometimes reach gas. All of it runs a fireplace well; the right choice depends on your property. Call (828) 545-0525.
Propane and wood in the rural valleys
Leicester is close to Asheville as the crow flies but rural in character, and its large-property valleys — Sandy Mush, Turkey Creek, out New Leicester Highway and Newfound Road — sit largely beyond the natural-gas main. That makes propane and wood the workhorses here. Propane runs any gas unit once we set LP orifices and pressure, tank coordinated with your supplier; wood, in an EPA-certified insert or stove, gives heat you own outright. Homes nearer town may tap a gas main, and those run the same appliances.
Cold hollows, limited power, grid-independent heat
On clear winter nights, cold-air drainage runs Leicester's rural valleys five to eight degrees colder than Asheville, and some remote properties out here have limited electrical capacity to begin with. Both facts point the same direction: heat that doesn't lean on the grid. A Valor gas fireplace runs on no electricity at all; a wood stove needs none either — and neither leaves you cold when a storm drops the lines, the way central heat and electric fireplaces do. On a property with a thin electrical service, that independence isn't a luxury.
Licensed and permitted with Buncombe County
Connecting propane or natural gas is licensed work in North Carolina — a handyman on a rural road legally can't run the fuel line, however handy he is. We can, and we pull the Buncombe County permit and pressure-test every line we run. Our Asheville showroom is 15 minutes east. Call (828) 545-0525 for a free in-home assessment and we'll match the appliance to your property.
Fireplace help in Leicester
We install and service fireplaces throughout Leicester and the rest of Buncombe County — just 15 minutes west from our Asheville-area showroom.
Related questions
- How do I find out if natural gas runs to my street in Western North Carolina?
- Can I still get a gas fireplace if my home only has propane?
- Does a gas fireplace cost more to run on propane than on natural gas?
- Can my fireplace be converted from propane to natural gas later if gas service reaches my neighborhood?
- Is it cheaper to heat with wood, propane, or natural gas in Western North Carolina?