Will a gas insert seal off the drafts and old smoke odors coming from my open fireplace chimney?
Yes, and in Fairview it often goes hand in hand with getting off wood. These wooded rural lots are propane country, and wood heat is popular — but the creosote that builds up in a wood-burning flue is the very thing that drafts back that old smoke smell. A gas insert seals the firebox, caps the flue, and clears the odor.
Creosote is the smell
Fairview's large wooded lots make wood heat natural, and creosote buildup is the leading cause of chimney fires here without a fall sweep. That same creosote, soaked into the flue, is exactly what breathes stale smoke odor back into the room on damp days — while the open chimney drafts your heated air out. For anyone tired of hauling wood and cleaning the flue, that's the appeal. Converting to a sealed gas insert takes the creosote source out of the equation entirely.
Wood-to-gas, sealed for good
A [gas insert](/services/gas-insert-installation) — or a full [wood-to-gas conversion](/services/wood-to-gas-conversion) — caps the chimney with a stainless liner and seals the firebox face with a surround panel, so the open draft is closed and only the unit's sealed, direct-vented exhaust moves through the masonry. The draft stops, the smell clears, and where the open fireplace ran a net heat loss, the insert commonly runs 70% efficient or better with power-optional ignition for outages.
Propane, licensed, and permitted
Fairview is propane country, and we set the insert up for LP with the right orifices so it burns clean instead of sooting — the tank stays with your supplier, but the piping and appliance setup are licensed work we permit through Buncombe County and pressure-test. If you'd rather keep burning wood, we can [inspect and sweep the flue](/services/fireplace-inspection) instead. We're 15 minutes east of the Asheville showroom. Call (828) 545-0525.
Fireplace help in Fairview
We install and service fireplaces throughout Fairview and the rest of Buncombe County — just 15 minutes east 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?