Kozy Heat vs Regency — which should I choose?

Two brands, two fuels

In our lineup these two barely overlap, which makes the choice cleaner than most brand matchups. Kozy Heat is our cold-climate gas specialist — American-made in Minnesota, with the Springfield 36 (30,000 BTU, direct-vent, built for propane) and the Chaska 25L insert (25,000 BTU with a blower standard) doing the heavy lifting. Regency is our serious wood line: EPA-certified fireboxes engineered for long burns, like the Grandview G600C radiant wood fireplace and the Cascades F1500 stove, which runs 78% efficient, puts out up to 55,000 BTU, and heats up to 1,500 square feet.

The Helene question

After Hurricane Helene knocked power out across WNC for days, the homes that stayed warm were the ones with a working wood or gas hearth — and this comparison is really about which version of that insurance you want. Regency wood is total grid independence: heat you own outright, no utility involved. Gas gives you flame at the flip of a switch — no hauling wood, no cold-start smoke, no ash pan. Both beat central heat, which stops the moment the power does.

How to choose

Ask yourself two questions. First: will you actually feed a wood fire — split it, stack it, haul it in through a January rain? If yes, Regency rewards you with the deepest outage protection there is. If the honest answer is no, a Kozy Heat gas unit will get lit five nights a week instead of five nights a winter, and the fireplace you actually use is always the better fireplace.

Second: what's your fuel situation — natural gas along the Asheville and Hendersonville mains, or propane out in Fairview, Candler, and Brevard? We install and permit both, and we'll size either brand to your actual house. Call (828) 545-0525 for a free in-home assessment.