Should I install gas logs or keep burning real wood in my fireplace?
In Leicester, wood heat is a way of life. These are large rural lots where cordwood is close to free and many homes run on propane, not a gas main. If you burn and enjoy it, keep it, since you have the land for fuel. Convert to gas only where the fireplace sits unused, and mind that some remote homes have limited electrical capacity.
Where wood still makes the most sense
Out around Sandy Mush, Turkey Creek, and Newfound Road, wood heat is popular for good reason: the lots are big, the fuel is right there on the property, and cold-air drainage runs these rural valleys 5 to 8 degrees colder than Asheville on clear winter nights. If you actually cut and burn, a Regency wood stove or a sealed wood insert is honest, grid-independent heat you own outright, and there is no good reason to trade that away for a utility bill. Leicester is one of the towns where we are most likely to tell you to keep the wood.
If you go gas, plan around propane and power
When a conversion does make sense, usually a fireplace nobody lights anymore, remember it is propane here, not a natural-gas line, so we match the appliance and pressures to your LP tank. And because some remote Leicester properties have limited electrical capacity, favor a millivolt or battery-backup gas unit; a Valor H5 runs on zero electricity and throws radiant heat through a full grid-down stretch. A standard electric fireplace, by contrast, will not heat much and will not work at all in an outage, worth knowing before you buy one for a rural home at the end of a long power line.
The licensed hinge
Whichever direction you go, running or extending propane is licensed work in North Carolina, and a landscaper who buries your tank line or a handyman cannot legally make the connection. We can, we pull the Buncombe County permit, and we pressure-test the line, about 15 minutes from our Asheville showroom. Call (828) 545-0525.
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
- Should I get a gas fireplace or a wood-burning fireplace?
- Is it cheaper to heat your house with wood or with gas?
- Does a gas fireplace give you the crackle, smell, and feel of a real wood fire?
- What are my options for converting a wood-burning fireplace to gas — logs vs insert vs new fireplace?
- Can I convert my gas fireplace back to wood-burning, and is it worth it versus keeping gas?