What's the best fireplace for a vacation home or second home that sits empty part of the year?
Out in Leicester, pick heat that ignores the grid entirely. Some remote properties here have limited electrical capacity on a good day, and clear-night cold-air drainage runs these valleys 5 to 8 degrees colder than Asheville — so the right second-home hearth is a millivolt propane unit with no electrical needs at all, or an EPA wood stove if you visit often.
When the wires are the weak link
Leicester's large rural properties — out Sandy Mush, Turkey Creek, Newfound Road — sit at the end of long lines, and some remote places have limited electrical capacity even before a storm takes anything down. That rules out heat that leans on electronics. A millivolt gas unit like the Valor H5 runs with no blower and no circuit board — the pilot generates its own signal — so it heats identically whether the grid is up, down, or barely there. On clear winter nights these valleys drain 5 to 8 degrees colder than Asheville, and that's precisely when an empty house needs its hearth working.
Wood is the local habit — here's the honest math
Wood heat is genuinely popular in Leicester, and for good reason: it's heat you own outright, no utility involved. Regency's Cascades F1500 stove heats up to 1,500 square feet at 78 percent efficiency. But wood only serves a second home if you're present enough to keep the pile dry, tend fires, and book the fall sweep — an untended stove does nothing for the house in your absence, where a gas unit on a thermostat holds the line.
Propane logistics, handled from 15 minutes away
Many Leicester homes already run propane, and we do the licensed side — regulator, piping, appliance connection, buried outdoor-rated line where needed — while coordinating the tank with your supplier. Permits go through Buncombe County; we pull them and meet the inspector. Despite the rural feel, you're only about 15 minutes from our shop at 629 Emma Rd, so pre-season tune-ups (from $189) and one-visit repairs are easy to keep on schedule. Call (828) 545-0525.
Fireplace help in Leicester
We install and service fireplaces throughout Leicester and the rest of Buncombe County — just 15 minutes west from our Asheville-area showroom.