Should I get a gas fireplace or a wood-burning fireplace?
Mars Hill divides cleanly. Around the university, rentals and faculty homes want easy-use gas — instant heat, nothing for a tenant to manage. Out in the Spring Creek and Gabriels Creek valleys, homes already run propane or wood, and both are strong for a cold, rural property. This is one of the colder spots we serve, so you want real heat either way. Your location and fuel decide it.
Campus-area homes: gas, for simplicity
Close to Mars Hill University, the housing is mostly rentals and faculty homes, and there the honest pick is gas for its sheer simplicity. A sealed direct-vent unit gives a tenant instant heat with nothing to manage — no wood, no ash, no chimney to think about — and it's safe in a bedroom or a small apartment because its combustion is fully sealed off from the room. One annual tune-up keeps it right through the academic year. For a straightforward, value-minded install, the Heatilator Novus nXt 36 is built for exactly this.
Out in the valleys: propane and wood
Head out to Spring Creek or Gabriels Creek and the picture flips. These rural valley homes already run on propane or wood, and both suit a cold property well off the main road. Propane powers a Kozy Heat Springfield 36 — American-made for cold-mountain homes — with a hotter flame per unit than natural gas. Wood stays popular here for good reason: a Superior WRT4500 is an EPA-certified firebox without a premium price, and it gives you heat you own outright. When you're this far out and a storm takes the lines down, that grid independence isn't theoretical.
Weigh backup heat
Mars Hill sits high enough that the heating season runs long, so weigh backup heat seriously — electric goes dead in an outage and we'll tell you so, wood needs no grid at all, and gas with the right ignition still lights when the power's out. Connecting propane or gas is licensed work: we pull the permit with your county, meet the inspector, and pressure-test the line. We're 30 minutes north. Call (828) 545-0525 for a free assessment.
Fireplace help in Mars Hill
We install and service fireplaces throughout Mars Hill and the rest of Madison County — just 30 minutes north from our Asheville-area showroom.
Related questions
- Which heats a room better, a gas fireplace or a wood-burning fireplace?
- Is it cheaper to heat your house with wood or with gas?
- Which requires more maintenance, a gas fireplace or a wood-burning fireplace?
- Which lasts longer, a gas fireplace or a wood-burning fireplace?
- Which adds more resale value to a home, a gas fireplace or a wood-burning fireplace?