Should I clear snow and ice away from my fireplace's outside vent termination?
Yes — and at nearly 2,650 feet, Waynesville gets more snow and a heating season roughly three weeks longer than Asheville's, so this is a check you will make more often than folks down the mountain. A drift or an ice cap over a direct-vent termination shuts the fireplace off, or worse, keeps it from venting. Clear it after every storm.
More winters up here mean more checks
Waynesville runs 10 to 15 degrees colder than the lower WNC towns, and Hazelwood's older housing stock leans hard on its hearths to get through the season. Every storm that stacks snow against the house is another chance for a low sidewall vent to disappear under a drift, or for a roof cap to catch a slab shedding off the roofline.
Because your fireplace works harder here, a blocked vent bites sooner. The unit trips its safety and the room goes cold on the coldest nights of the year. Make the vent part of your after-storm walk, right alongside the steps and the driveway.
Clear it right, and mind the distance
Wait until the unit is cool, then brush the snow away by hand and open the space around the termination. Do not chip frozen ice off the cap. You will bend the screen or crack the pipe. Let it thaw, or let us handle it. Many Waynesville homes also run propane, so keep that tank's regulator vent clear too.
We are 35 minutes west of Emma Road, and a Haywood County storm can stretch that drive, so a pre-season inspection before the snow flies beats an emergency call in a whiteout. If the vent is iced solid or looks damaged, call (828) 545-0525.
Fireplace help in Waynesville
We install and service fireplaces throughout Waynesville and the rest of Haywood County — just 35 minutes west from our Asheville-area showroom.
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