Will a gas insert seal off the drafts and old smoke odors coming from my open fireplace chimney?
Yes, and in Canton we treat it as a safety job as much as a comfort one. After the Pigeon River flooding, a lot of valley hearths and gas connections took water damage — so before we seal your open firebox with a gas insert, we inspect the existing line. Then the liner and surround panel cap the draft and shut down the old smoke smell.
Flood country needs a closer look first
Recent flooding along the Pigeon River water-damaged hearths and gas appliances across Canton, and valley-floor fog and dampness rust dampers and chimney caps here earlier than most towns expect. That means an old open flue in Canton isn't just leaking heat and breathing smoke odor back inside — its damper and connections may be corroded. We check all of it before we seal anything, and inspecting the gas connections is not optional in this valley.
Sealing the open flue
Once the firebox checks out, a [gas insert](/services/gas-insert-installation) closes it: a stainless liner runs the chimney and caps the draft that's been siphoning your heat, and a surround panel seals the old opening so only the unit's own direct-vented exhaust moves through the masonry. The cold draft stops and the stale creosote smell clears. Running the gas line is licensed work, so we pull the Haywood County permit, pressure-test every connection, and [size the liner](/services/fireplace-inspection) correctly.
Heat that doesn't need the grid
Canton learned the hard way that power goes out and stays out. Where the open fireplace ran a net heat loss, a sealed insert commonly runs 70% efficient or better, and with millivolt or battery-backup ignition it keeps heating when the lines are down. In town it runs on natural gas; up the valley we set it for propane. We're 20 minutes west of our Asheville showroom — call (828) 545-0525.
Fireplace help in Canton
We install and service fireplaces throughout Canton and the rest of Haywood County — just 20 minutes west 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?