Will my gas fireplace work when the power is out?
Around Mars Hill, especially out in the Spring Creek and Gabriels Creek valleys, homes run on propane or wood — and both keep you warm when the power's out. A propane fireplace with a standing-pilot or millivolt valve lights straight off the tank, no grid required. Wood needs no ignition at all. Only a plug-in electronic gas unit stays dark.
Propane and wood, the rural answer
Mars Hill's rural properties largely rely on propane or wood heat, and that's a genuine advantage in an outage. Propane sits in your tank under its own pressure, so a millivolt fireplace — where the pilot generates the current to open the valve — will burn with the grid down and the lines on the ground. Wood goes a step further: total grid independence, heat you own outright, no ignition system to worry about. Either one keeps a colder-than-average Mars Hill home warm when the power fails.
Easy-use gas for the rental crowd
Closer to the university, the demand runs toward easy-use gas fireplaces for rentals — flame at the flip of a switch, no hauling wood. That convenience is worth keeping, but for a rental the outage resilience still matters: a millivolt or battery-backup unit keeps working in a storm, while a plug-in electronic-only model needs a generator. It's worth knowing which is installed before winter, especially in a place this cold.
The blower is the exception
On any gas unit, the blower needs electricity, so during an outage you'll get radiant heat rather than fan-forced — enough to hold a room. Mars Hill is in Madison County, thirty minutes north of our Asheville showroom. Whether you want a propane fireplace, a gas conversion, or a wood stove for full independence, call (828) 545-0525 and we'll help you sort it out.
Fireplace help in Mars Hill
We install and service fireplaces throughout Mars Hill and the rest of Madison County — just 30 minutes north from our Asheville-area showroom.