Will converting my wood-burning fireplace to gas change how it looks?
A little, and since we're headquartered right here on Emma Road you can compare both looks in person before deciding. In a Montford or North Asheville home, a vented gas log set keeps your original open masonry firebox reading just as it does today. In newer South Asheville rooms, a clean-face insert looks modern. Natural-gas mains citywide make either an easy connect.
Two eras of Asheville houses
The early-1900s masonry fireboxes in Montford, Kenilworth, and North Asheville were built for open wood fire, so a hand-painted Real Fyre set drops into that opening with the brick still showing and a tall yellow flame — the room doesn't change, it just lights at a flip. West and South Asheville's newer construction reads differently. A framed glass unit like a Napoleon Ascent or a Heat & Glo clean-face front looks deliberate there, and it runs 70% efficient or better instead of pushing warm air straight up an open flue.
See it lit before you choose
Our showroom at 629 Emma Rd is a few minutes from most of the city, so you can stand in front of a burning log set and a burning insert the same afternoon and settle the question with your own eyes. When you pick, we run the gas line, pull the Buncombe County permit, and meet the inspector — in North Carolina a mason or a furniture store legally cannot make that fuel connection, and we do it as licensed gas contractors.
The outage angle
Asheville learned during Helene what a week without power feels like. A millivolt or battery-backup insert keeps producing heat with the grid down, which is a fair reason to accept the slightly more finished look of glass and trim. Electric conversions look great but go dark in an outage, so for a primary hearth we usually steer toward gas here. Call (828) 545-0525 to walk through both paths.
Fireplace help in Asheville
We install and service fireplaces throughout Asheville and the rest of Buncombe County — we're headquartered right here.
Related questions
- What does a wood-to-electric conversion look like in an existing masonry fireplace?
- Will a gas insert ruin the look of my masonry fireplace?
- Can I keep a Victorian or antique fireplace look while adding a modern insert?
- Do gas fireplace inserts come in different front and faceplate styles?
- What can I do with a fireplace I never use?