What is the best fireplace for an old, drafty house?

Two kinds of old and drafty

Near the university, Mars Hill's older rentals see academic-year demand for one thing: heat that works at the flip of a switch, with no wood to haul and nothing for a tenant to get wrong. A sealed direct-vent gas fireplace delivers exactly that — thermostat control, sealed glass, combustion air drawn from outside instead of from the room the house is trying to keep warm.

Out Spring Creek and Gabriels Creek, the valley farmhouses run on propane or wood, and the priorities flip: output and independence over convenience. An EPA-certified wood stove like the Regency Cascades F1500 — 78% efficient, heating up to 1,500 square feet — suits a drafty farmhouse better than any decorative flame, and it owes nothing to the power lines. On the propane side, a sealed direct-vent LP unit delivers the same draft-killing physics with less labor.

Cold-spot sizing and Madison County permits

Mars Hill is one of the colder spots we serve, at 2,350 feet with real winter. The rule of thumb is around 20 Btu per square foot in a moderate climate — and this isn't a moderate climate, so we size deliberately rather than guessing from the floor plan. Every gas connection, natural or LP, is licensed work in North Carolina: we run it, pressure-test it, pull the Madison County permit, and meet the inspector. Landlords get the same honesty homeowners do: if a rental's fireplace isn't safe to depend on, we'll say so before a tenant finds out the hard way — and annual service each late summer keeps pilot assemblies clear of the spiders and dust that clog them over the off-season. We're about 30 minutes south in Asheville. Call (828) 545-0525 for a free in-home assessment.