What annual maintenance does a wood-burning insert need?

From heat-loser to heater

Plenty of Arden's established neighborhoods — Royal Pines, Skyland, the streets off Glenn Bridge and Avery Creek — were built in the 1980s and '90s with open masonry fireplaces that lose more heat up the flue than they ever put into the room. A wood insert fixes exactly that: sealed into the old opening and vented by a stainless liner, it turns a draft into an efficient heater that commonly runs 70 percent efficient or better. But the payoff comes with a duty — that stainless liner has to be swept and inspected once a year, because creosote builds in it just like it would in any wood chimney.

The annual service

Each year we sweep the entire liner run, check the cap and top-plate seal, inspect the firebrick for cracks, test the door and glass gaskets, vacuum cold ash, clean the glass, and dust the blower that moves the heat into the room. Reaching the whole liner usually means pulling the insert partway out of the masonry, so this is a proper professional visit, done to CSIA and NFPA standards.

You're only about fifteen minutes south of our Emma Rd showroom, so scheduling is simple. Book late summer or early fall, before the cool evenings settle in. We pull the Buncombe County permit when the work calls for it and service all major wood brands. Call (828) 545-0525.