What's the best fireplace for a vacation home or second home that sits empty part of the year?
Propane — Fairview is propane country, and the best second-home setup here is a direct-vent LP fireplace with millivolt or battery-backup ignition, fed from your own tank. Wood heat is beloved on these big wooded lots, and we install plenty of stoves here, but a stove only pays off if you're around to burn it and sweep it.
Fuel first: the tank is the plan
From Fairview Crossroads out through Cane Creek Valley and Garren Creek, homes sit on large wooded lots and mostly run propane — which suits a part-time house well, because the fuel lives on your property and rides out whatever happens up the line. Kozy Heat's Springfield 36 is the LP workhorse we install most; pair it with millivolt or battery-backup ignition and the fireplace keeps heating through an outage nobody's home to notice. We handle the regulator, piping, and appliance connection under our gas-contractor license and coordinate the tank with your propane supplier.
About the wood stove you're tempted by
Wood heat is genuinely popular in Fairview and we install a lot of stoves here — Regency's Cascades F1500 heats up to 1,500 square feet with no utility at all. But be honest about the second-home math: creosote is the leading cause of chimney fires when fall sweeps get skipped, and skipped is exactly what happens to a chimney two hours from where you live. If you'll visit often and burn regularly, a stove is heat you own outright, plus a booked sweep every fall. If visits are sporadic, the propane unit protects the house without you.
Fifteen minutes, one permit, once-a-year service
Fairview is a 15-minute run from our shop at 629 Emma Rd, so the logistics of remote ownership stay simple: gas work permitted with Buncombe County and pressure-tested, a tune-up (from $189) each late summer to clear the pilot and burner after the idle months, and most repairs done in a single visit. Call (828) 545-0525 for a free in-home assessment.
Fireplace help in Fairview
We install and service fireplaces throughout Fairview and the rest of Buncombe County — just 15 minutes east from our Asheville-area showroom.