What's the best option for converting a wood fireplace to electric?
There are two Mars Hills, and they get different answers. Near the university, where rentals turn over with the academic year, a Dimplex electric insert is the easy-use, no-combustion conversion that makes sense. Out in the Spring Creek and Gabriels Creek valleys, where homes burn propane and wood because winters demand it, trading a working hearth for a 5,000 BTU electric flame is a downgrade.
The campus-side answer
Rental housing near Mars Hill University wants exactly what electric delivers: a fireplace that works the day a tenant moves in, needs nothing from them but a switch, and puts no open flame, wood storage, or chimney schedule into a lease. We clean out the firebox, seal and cap the flue — which also stops the heated air the old open damper was losing — and set the insert. Between academic years, there's nothing to service.
The Spring Creek answer
The rural side of Mars Hill is a different climate and a different logic. This is one of the colder spots we serve, and the valley homes out Spring Creek and Gabriels Creek run propane and wood because those fuels work when the weather is doing its worst and the power isn't. If your wood fireplace underperforms, the upgrade that respects why you have it is an EPA wood insert or an LP gas insert — more heat from the same opening, still yours when the grid goes down. The propane side is licensed gas work: piping, regulator, pressure test, done right.
Start with eyes on the firebox
Which Mars Hill you're in decides this, and a free in-home assessment settles it in an hour. We're 30 minutes south at 629 Emma Rd, where the Dimplex flame burns next to live gas units — worth the trip before you choose. Call (828) 545-0525.
Fireplace help in Mars Hill
We install and service fireplaces throughout Mars Hill and the rest of Madison County — just 30 minutes north from our Asheville-area showroom.