Will a gas insert seal off the drafts and old smoke odors coming from my open fireplace chimney?
Yes, and in Brevard the odor half of your question is the bigger story. A gas insert seals the open firebox with a liner and surround panel, capping the flue and stopping the draft — but it also closes off the rain-soaked masonry that, in an 80-inch-a-year climate, breathes stale smoke back into the room every wet week from March to June.
Why Transylvania chimneys smell more
Brevard collects more than eighty inches of rain a year, and all that moisture works into open chimney crowns, brick, and dampers. The creosote soaked into a damp flue is exactly what releases that old-campfire odor back down into the house on humid days — and Brevard has a lot of humid days. Crawl spaces and chimney chases here trap moisture too, so an unused open flue becomes a steady source of both cold draft and stale smell.
Sealing it off for good
A [gas insert](/services/gas-insert-installation) caps that open shaft with a stainless liner and seals the old opening with a surround panel, so the masonry is no longer an open channel between wet chimney and living room. Combustion is fully sealed and direct-vented — nothing moves through the chimney but the insert's own exhaust. The drafts stop, and the stale smoke and creosote smell clears out with them. We [inspect the flue](/services/fireplace-inspection), size the liner, and, because running gas is licensed work, pull the Transylvania County permit and pressure-test the line ourselves.
Propane-ready, moisture-ready
Much of Brevard and the cabins around it run on propane, and we set the insert up for LP with the right orifices and pressures so it burns clean instead of sooting. You get 70% efficient or better heat where the open fireplace was a net loss, plus a stainless cap that keeps the weather out. With millivolt or battery-backup ignition, the heat keeps coming when a storm drops the lines. We're 40 minutes southwest of our Asheville showroom; 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
- Does replacing an open wood fireplace with an insert improve the air in my house?
- Can an unused fireplace or chimney cause moisture and mold problems in the house?
- Why do I smell smoke in my house when the fireplace isn't even burning?
- Does a direct vent gas fireplace use the air in my room for combustion?
- Do gas fireplace inserts burn cleaner than gas log sets?