What should I check before lighting my gas fireplace for the first time each fall?
In Arden, a lot of the 1980s and '90s homes in Royal Pines and Skyland still have a tired open masonry fireplace, so if yours runs a vented gas log, the first check is the damper — it must be clamped open — plus a look up the flue and a flashlight on the pilot for summer webs. On a sealed insert, inspect the glass gasket and outside vent cap.
Drafty open fireboxes vs. sealed inserts
The established Royal Pines and Skyland neighborhoods are full of tired open masonry fireplaces that pull heat out of the room more than they put it in. If you burn a vented gas log in one, it needs the damper clamped open every time and a clear flue overhead, so glance up for a cracked liner or a nest before lighting and confirm the logs sit on their factory marks. Plenty of Arden homeowners have solved the draftiness by dropping a sealed gas insert into that old firebox — turning a heat-loser into a real heater — and those get the glass-gasket and vent check instead.
The idle-summer checklist
Whichever you own, the off-season leaves its mark: dust and spiders settle into the pilot and burner over a warm Arden summer, so a flashlight look there is the most useful thing you can do before the first fire. Put fresh batteries in the remote and receiver so a dead cell doesn't read as a broken fireplace, and stay in the room for the first burn to make sure the flame comes up clean and steady. You're on the natural-gas main along the Hendersonville Road corridor, so the outside job is just a clear vent terminal.
Past the eyeball
Cleaning the pilot, testing the valve, or fitting a sealed insert into that old firebox is our work — we're 15 minutes south in Buncombe County. A tune-up is from $189, and our [insert cost](/guides/fireplace-insert-cost) guide covers the upgrade. If the pilot won't hold or you smell gas, call (828) 545-0525.
Fireplace help in Arden
We install and service fireplaces throughout Arden and the rest of Buncombe County — just 15 minutes south from our Asheville-area showroom.
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