What's the best fireplace for a vacation home or second home that sits empty part of the year?
A sealed gas insert in that dated ranch firebox. Clyde's 1960s-to-'80s ranches carry original fireplaces past their prime, and at 2,600 feet — with Pigeon River humidity rusting dampers year-round — an aging open flue is the wrong thing to leave unattended for weeks. An insert closes the chimney, and the house gains a real heater.
The ranch firebox has done its time
Clyde's housing stock is full of 1960s-through-'80s ranch builds whose fireplaces were dated twenty years ago — and those open fireboxes are ready-made for insert upgrades. A sealed gas insert with a correctly sized liner turns the old hearth into the most dependable appliance in a part-time house: no wood staged between visits, no ash on departure day, no open flue drafting a closed-up home — and inserts commonly run 70 percent efficient or better, where an open hearth can be a net loss. Kozy Heat's Chaska 25L, with its standard blower, is the one we fit most in rooms like these; Napoleon's Oakville X4 is the alternative when the firebox runs smaller. With battery-backup or millivolt ignition, it also becomes the house's outage heat — worth plenty in a county that shares Canton and Waynesville's cold-air drainage.
Humidity, fuel, and the Haywood County file
River humidity here rusts dampers and degrades masonry chimneys steadily, and a house that sits gives that corrosion an uninterrupted head start — one more reason to retire the open flue rather than trust it unattended. If the fireplace stays wood, at minimum get the damper and cap inspected annually; rust takes them quietly here. Fuel in Clyde is mixed — some homes have natural gas, many run propane — and we install, connect, and convert for both under our gas-contractor license. Every job is permitted with Haywood County, inspected, and pressure-tested: protection for insurance and any future sale.
We're about 25 minutes east in Asheville at 629 Emma Rd. Book an annual tune-up (from $189) in late summer, before the season, and call (828) 545-0525 for a free in-home assessment.
Fireplace help in Clyde
We install and service fireplaces throughout Clyde and the rest of Haywood County — just 25 minutes west from our Asheville-area showroom.