Why does my gas fireplace burn differently after being converted between natural gas and propane?
Clyde's 1960s-to-1980s ranch homes are full of dated fireplaces ripe for insert upgrades, and Haywood County's mixed fuel means those inserts land on gas mains or propane tanks depending on the address. Convert for the wrong one and it shows: a propane-jetted insert starves on a gas line, a gas-jetted insert soots on propane. The orifice has to match the fuel.
Ranch remodels and the fuel your street actually has
The ranch-style builds around Downtown Clyde and the Lower Pigeon Valley carry dated fireboxes that a modern insert transforms — but the insert has to be set for the fuel that reaches your particular lot. Propane holds more than twice the energy per cubic foot of natural gas and runs at higher pressure, so it needs a smaller orifice; natural gas needs a wider one and full low-pressure flow. A relocated or secondhand insert put on the wrong fuel either over-fires into soot or starves out. River humidity and cold-air drainage rust dampers here, but a sooting burner is a fuel-setup issue, fixed by the correct orifice and regulator, not the flue.
Licensed, permitted with Haywood
Re-jetting a fireplace between fuels is a manufacturer procedure that ends at a manometer, and the gas side is licensed work in North Carolina. We permit with Haywood County and pressure-test the line so it burns clean on the fuel you have. We're 25 minutes west. Call (828) 545-0525.
Fireplace help in Clyde
We install and service fireplaces throughout Clyde and the rest of Haywood County — just 25 minutes west from our Asheville-area showroom.
Related questions
- Does high elevation affect how my gas fireplace burns?
- Why is black soot forming on my gas fireplace logs?
- Why are my gas fireplace flames suddenly too tall?
- Why won't my propane fireplace light after the tank ran empty and was refilled?
- Why does my propane fire pit flame shrink or die even with a full tank?

