What's the best fireplace for a vacation home or second home that sits empty part of the year?
In Asheville, run it off the city's natural-gas mains: a sealed direct-vent unit with millivolt or battery-backup ignition, so there's no propane tank to watch from out of town. For a Montford or North Asheville place with original masonry, that means a gas insert; in newer South Asheville construction, a clean-face direct-vent fireplace.
Two kinds of Asheville second home
The in-town second home splits two ways here. Montford and North Asheville houses come with original masonry fireplaces, and an open chimney is the last thing to leave breathing over a closed-up house all winter — it drafts cold air in and lets conditioned air out the whole time you're gone. A sealed gas insert like Napoleon's Oakville X4 or Kozy Heat's Chaska 25L, set with a correctly sized liner, keeps the mantel and closes the hole. Newer South Asheville construction is easier: a clean-face unit such as the Heat & Glo 6000CLX drops into a great-room wall and looks like it was always meant to be there.
Why city gas earns its keep when you're away
Natural gas is the quiet advantage of an Asheville address — no tank percentage to check from three states away, no delivery to schedule before a holiday visit. Add millivolt or battery-backup ignition and the fireplace keeps working when the power doesn't, which matters more than most owners expect: our elevation holds nighttime temperatures in the 20s well into early spring, so arrival-night cold and freeze risk both run longer than the calendar suggests. We pull the permit with Buncombe County and meet the inspector, and every gas line we run is pressure-tested — in North Carolina that's licensed work, and it's ours.
See it before you decide
This is the one town where comparison shopping is a ten-minute errand — our showroom at 629 Emma Rd displays these units, so you can judge scale and finish in person before your next trip up. Book an annual tune-up for late summer, before the season you'll actually use it, from $189 — or call (828) 545-0525 for a free in-home assessment.
Fireplace help in Asheville
We install and service fireplaces throughout Asheville and the rest of Buncombe County — we're headquartered right here.