Should I install gas logs or keep burning real wood in my fireplace?
In Weaverville it comes down to which house you own. A new Reems Creek build with a clean-face gas firebox was never meant for cordwood, so enjoy the convenience. An older downtown home with an inefficient original masonry firebox can burn wood well, but converting to sealed gas often heats better than that drafty box ever did.
New construction versus the old downtown fireboxes
Weaverville is growing fast, and the split shows up right at the hearth. The subdivisions filling in around Reems Creek and Ox Creek come with builder-installed gas fireboxes tied to the natural-gas mains, and those were always gas, so keeping them gas is the easy call; the only real question is whether to upgrade a weak decorative unit to something with real output. The older homes near downtown are the interesting ones. Many still have their original masonry fireplaces, grand to look at but leaky, and those are the households genuinely weighing whether to keep feeding a wood fire or convert. The north-facing valley is slow to warm in spring, so there is more fireplace season here than newcomers expect, which makes the decision worth getting right.
Making the older hearth earn its keep
If you love the wood ritual and the chimney checks out, keep burning, and a fall sweep and a look at the liner is all we ask before you depend on it. If it mostly sits cold, a sealed insert like the Napoleon Oakville X4 turns a heat-losing firebox into a real heater at 70 percent efficiency or better, while a vented Real Fyre set gives you easy ambiance if looks are what you are after. Because Weaverville is on the gas mains, a conversion does not mean trenching a propane tank. Running that line is licensed work, so we pull the Buncombe County permit, pressure-test it, and meet the inspector, and we are only 15 minutes south of you at our Emma Road showroom. Call (828) 545-0525.
Fireplace help in Weaverville
We install and service fireplaces throughout Weaverville and the rest of Buncombe County — just 15 minutes north 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?