Should I stock up on firewood before winter, and how early should I order it?
Yes, order in spring — but in Arden, take a hard look at the fireplace first. The 1980s-90s open masonry fireboxes across Royal Pines and Skyland actually pull heat out of a room and burn through wood fast. Stocking a big pile for a drafty open hearth is a lot of hauling for not much warmth.
Drafty open hearths waste your wood
Arden's established neighborhoods — Skyland, Royal Pines, Glenn Bridge — are full of open masonry fireplaces from the '80s and '90s. They look inviting, but an open firebox often runs a net heat loss: it draws warm room air up the chimney faster than the fire replaces it, and burns a surprising amount of wood doing it. If you're feeding one all winter, you'll go through a large pile, so order green early in spring and season it hard over the summer.
A sealed insert turns it into a heater
The better long-term move for a lot of these Arden homes is a sealed insert, which commonly runs 70% efficient or better and turns that heat-losing hole in the wall into something that genuinely warms the room — on a fraction of the wood. It needs a correctly sized liner, and we permit the work through Buncombe County. Our Asheville showroom is about fifteen minutes north if you want to see the difference in person.
If you're sticking with wood, season it right
Buy green in spring, stack it by the cord off the ground with cut faces to the sun, top covered and sides open, and give it the whole summer. Green or wet wood smokes, spends its heat drying itself out, and cakes the chimney with creosote. Have the flue inspected before your first fire of the season. Call (828) 545-0525.
Fireplace help in Arden
We install and service fireplaces throughout Arden and the rest of Buncombe County — just 15 minutes south from our Asheville-area showroom.