Should I get a gas fireplace or a wood-burning fireplace?
In Swannanoa, this question comes up mid-rebuild, and that context matters. Homes are being renovated and rebuilt after the storm, and a lot of owners are adding a fireplace or stove precisely so the next outage doesn't leave them cold. On the natural-gas mains, gas with backup ignition heats through a power loss; wood needs no grid at all. Your rebuild plans and outage priorities decide it.
Building backup heat into the rebuild
Swannanoa is rebuilding, and that's actually the ideal moment to decide this well — you're already opening walls, so building in outage-proof heat costs less now than later. If gas is your lean, a Napoleon Ascent 36 lights on battery backup when the grid is down, and a Valor H5 goes a step further with a millivolt system that uses no electricity at all — no blower, no circuit board, just radiant heat that runs straight through a multi-day outage. If you'd rather owe nothing to any utility, an EPA wood firebox like the Regency Grandview is the gold standard. Electric, honestly, goes dark the moment the power does.
Grovemont's old masonry and the damp valley
Many Grovemont homes date to the 1940s through '60s and came with original masonry fireplaces, and the Swannanoa valley is hard on them — fog, cold-air pooling, and steady damp work on mortar, dampers, and flue liners. If your rebuild keeps an old firebox, have the flue inspected and relined before you trust it to wood. Where the masonry is tired, a sealed gas insert brings its own liner and doesn't lean on the old chimney being sound, which is often the more durable choice in a river valley this damp.
One roof for the whole job
A rebuild is no time to juggle a firebox from one company and a search for someone licensed to connect the fuel. We do it all under one roof — appliance, venting, gas line, the Buncombe County permit, and the inspection — and stand behind it with our own workmanship guarantee. We're 15 minutes east, so we're close by through the whole process. Call (828) 545-0525 for a free in-home assessment.
Fireplace help in Swannanoa
We install and service fireplaces throughout Swannanoa and the rest of Buncombe County — just 15 minutes east 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?