What is the best fireplace for an old, drafty house?
Two Brevard facts drive the answer: this is propane country, and it rains more than 80 inches a year. The best fireplace for an old, drafty house here is a sealed direct-vent propane unit — the Kozy Heat Springfield 36 is our usual pick — installed alongside a chimney checkup, because a drafty Brevard flue is very often a wet one.
Rain first: a drafty Brevard chimney is usually a damaged one
More than 80 inches of rain falls on Brevard in a normal year, and it shows up in the chimneys: cracked crowns, spalled brick, rusted dampers — and a damper rusted half-open is a permanent hole in the middle of your house. Crawl spaces and chimney chases here are especially prone to moisture damage, so before we recommend any appliance, we look at what the water has already done. The wet season runs March through June; the smart time to fix all of this is before it.
Fuel second: propane, done by a licensed hand
Brevard is propane country, and that changes the technical details. LP burns hotter per unit than natural gas and needs different orifices and pressures — set up wrong, it soots. The Kozy Heat Springfield 36 is a 30,000 BTU direct-vent propane fireplace we call the right call for propane-country homes, and sealed direct-vent combustion means the unit isn't breathing your room air or your crawl-space damp. We handle the regulator, piping, and appliance setup as licensed gas work; the tank itself is coordinated with your propane supplier.
One honest caveat: skip vent-free here
Vent-free units are efficient, but they add moisture to indoor air — and in a town already fighting 80-inch rainfall, damp crawl spaces, and wet chases, that's the wrong direction. Sealed direct-vent sidesteps the whole issue. We pull the permit with Transylvania County, meet the inspector, and pressure-test every line, because in North Carolina connecting fuel is licensed work. Brevard is about 40 minutes from our Asheville showroom; call (828) 545-0525 and the in-home assessment is free.
Fireplace help in Brevard
We install and service fireplaces throughout Brevard and the rest of Transylvania County — just 40 minutes southwest from our Asheville-area showroom.