What are my options for converting a wood-burning fireplace to gas — logs vs insert vs new fireplace?
In Arden the standout conversion is the drafty open masonry fireplace turned into a real heater: the 1980s-90s homes in Royal Pines and Skyland are full of fireboxes that pull heat out of the room, and a sealed insert flips them into 70-percent-plus heaters. Vented logs and a new built-in are the other two paths. Arden's on natural gas.
The Royal Pines and Skyland firebox story
Walk into a lot of Arden's 1980s-90s homes and you'll find an open masonry fireplace that looks fine but runs a net heat loss, sending more warm air up the chimney than it returns. A sealed insert with its own liner is the fix, converting that tired opening into a heater you feel across the room. On a millivolt model, it also keeps heating when the power's out, the backup-heat lesson the whole area absorbed. Across Royal Pines, Skyland, and Glenn Bridge these open fireboxes are a common sight, and turning one into a real heater is among the most satisfying upgrades we do.
When logs or a full built-in make more sense
Not every Arden conversion needs to chase heat. If you want the wood-fire glow for a dozen evenings a year and your flue is sound, a vented Real Fyre log set is the simplest, lowest-cost path, just know it's decorative-first. And if you're remodeling the fireplace wall anyway, a new zero-clearance built-in gives you linear or clean-face formats the old box couldn't. The same holds for a Biltmore Park commercial space. The Hendersonville Road corridor funnels cold air down on winter nights, so the difference between a decorative glow and a genuine heater is one you'll feel.
Buncombe County permit, 15 minutes away
Whichever path, the gas line is licensed work; showrooms and masons legally can't connect fuel in NC. We can, and we pull the Buncombe County permit and pressure-test the line. Arden is 15 minutes south of our Asheville showroom, easy to visit and see units burning. Free in-home assessment: (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.
Related questions
- Should I install gas logs or keep burning real wood in my fireplace?
- What's the difference between a gas fireplace insert and gas logs?
- Which heats better, a gas insert or gas logs?
- Wood-to-gas vs wood-to-electric conversion — which is better for my fireplace?
- Which is the bigger installation job — gas logs, a gas insert, or a full fireplace replacement?