What is the best fireplace to put in new construction?
For a new build in Arden, spec a sealed direct-vent gas fireplace on the neighborhood natural-gas service — and skip the open masonry firebox entirely. Royal Pines and Skyland are full of 1980s-90s open fireplaces that pull more warmth out of a room than they put in, and their owners are paying to fix it with inserts right now.
The neighbors already paid for this lesson
Arden's 1980s-and-90s housing stock came with handsome open masonry fireplaces, and decades of winters later the verdict is in: tired, drafty open fireboxes pull heated air out of the room and up the flue — an open masonry fireplace can actually run a net heat loss — and the standard fix is a sealed insert, which commonly runs 70% efficient or better. New construction gets the same result without the retrofit: start with the sealed unit. The Napoleon Ascent 36 is our best-selling everyday gas fireplace, 26,500 BTU with battery-backup ignition; for a great-room plan, the Heat & Glo 6000CLX is the 42-inch clean-face anchor. Sized right — around 20 Btu per square foot, nudged up for our winters — it heats instead of decorates.
Fifteen minutes from the showroom, one company on the hook
Arden sits on the natural-gas mains, and we're 15 minutes north at 629 Emma Rd — close enough to walk the burning displays with your plans on a lunch break, and close enough that framing-stage site visits don't strain anyone's schedule. Biltmore Park's offices and retail spaces put us in Arden for commercial gas fireplace work regularly too. In North Carolina, connecting gas is licensed work: we run and pressure-test the line, pull the Buncombe County permit, and meet the inspector, with the manufacturer's warranty plus our own workmanship guarantee behind the install. Gas fireplace installation typically runs $3,500–$8,000 installed, depending on the unit, venting, and how far the gas line has to travel. Call (828) 545-0525 for a free design consultation.
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.