What's the best replacement for an old, non-EPA-certified wood stove?
Fletcher is one of the WNC towns where a natural-gas main likely runs right past your house, so an old uncertified stove presents a genuine fork: keep wood with the EPA-certified Regency Cascades F1500, or make this the moment you switch to a sealed direct-vent gas unit like the Napoleon Ascent 36, whose battery-backup ignition still lights when the power is out.
Nineties subdivisions are tighter than they look
Fletcher's housing skews newer than most of our service area — 1990s subdivisions plus steady construction along the I-26 corridor — and tighter homes change the venting conversation. A leaky farmhouse feeds an old stove all the air it wants; a well-sealed subdivision home doesn't. Sealed appliances that draw combustion air from outdoors are the correct fit, whether that's a modern EPA stove installed with proper air supply or a direct-vent gas unit that's sealed by design. Commercial spaces along the airport corridor face the same physics, and we handle those too.
Wood or gas — the honest trade
Wood wins on independence: the F1500 needs nothing from any utility, burns at 78 percent efficiency, and heats up to 1,500 square feet from fuel you can stack in the yard. Gas wins on convenience, and it isn't close — flame at the flip of a switch, no hauling wood, no cold-start smoke, and with battery-backup ignition, heat through an outage too. With the main already at the street, the gas-line run is usually short — and running it is licensed work we permit and pressure-test ourselves.
Henderson County permit, twenty minutes from the showroom
Fletcher jobs are permitted with Henderson County and inspected, which protects your insurance either direction you go. Financing is available for qualified buyers on new installations if that helps the timing. We're twenty minutes up the road at 629 Emma Rd in Asheville — come look at both options, then call (828) 545-0525 for a free in-home assessment and a recommendation with no thumb on the scale.
Fireplace help in Fletcher
We install and service fireplaces throughout Fletcher and the rest of Henderson County — just 20 minutes south from our Asheville-area showroom.