What should I do if there's a propane shortage during a cold snap?
Brevard is propane country — most homes past downtown, out at Connestee Falls and up toward Pisgah Forest, heat off a buried LP tank rather than a gas main. When a cold snap tightens supply, get on your propane company's schedule early, keep a cushion in the tank, and lean on your fireplace to zone-heat.
Propane and moisture, together
Two things define hearth work in Transylvania County: nearly everyone's on propane, and the county catches 80-plus inches of rain a year that cracks crowns, spalls brick, and rusts dampers. Both matter in a shortage. On the fuel side, don't let a will-call tank ride down to empty in a freeze — recovering an empty system means a leak-and-pressure test and relighting every pilot, a delay stacked on the delivery you're already waiting for. On the appliance side, all that moisture means the fireplace you're about to lean on should be checked before you depend on it, not during. Damp crawl spaces and chimney chases here take a steady toll.
Stretch the tank, keep the room warm
A direct-vent gas fireplace built for propane — something like a Kozy Heat Springfield, which is the right call for propane-country cabins — lets you drop the central thermostat and hold the room you're living in. Vented gas logs are gorgeous but send most of their heat up the flue, so they're not the conservation move. Close unused rooms, run the fireplace where people are, and you'll buy days. Switching from will-call to automatic delivery hands the tracking to your supplier so a truck isn't racing your empty tank up a mountain road. The tank's theirs; the appliance and the LP setup are ours — we permit with Transylvania County. Call (828) 545-0525.
Fireplace help in Brevard
We install and service fireplaces throughout Brevard and the rest of Transylvania County — just 40 minutes southwest from our Asheville-area showroom.
Related questions
- Can natural gas service be interrupted in extreme cold?
- Can propane freeze or stop flowing in very cold weather?
- At what tank percentage should I schedule a propane refill?
- What happens to my gas fireplace when the propane tank runs empty?
- Why does propane cost more in winter, and can I lock in a price?