Wood-burning insert vs gas insert — which should I choose?
Around Brevard you're mostly in propane country, and that shapes the choice: a gas insert runs off your tank with orifices set for LP, giving you switch-on heat, while a wood insert frees you from the propane company entirely. Both slide a sealed, efficient heater into an open firebox — and both need a fresh liner, which matters a lot in this wet climate.
Propane changes the gas side
Brevard and the cabins around it are propane country, not natural-gas mains — so a gas insert here connects to your tank, and it has to be set up for propane, which burns hotter per unit and needs different orifices and pressures than natural gas. Get that wrong and the unit soots; we set it correctly and coordinate the tank side with your propane supplier. A wood insert sidesteps fuel deliveries altogether — cordwood is heat you own, and in the mountains that independence is real. Valor also builds gas inserts that throw radiant heat with zero electricity, worth a look out where storms take the power.
Eighty inches of rain, and your chimney
Transylvania County gets 80-plus inches of rain a year, and it's hard on masonry — crowns crack, brick spalls, dampers rust, and moisture creeps down crawl spaces and chimney chases. That deterioration is exactly why an open fireplace drafts poorly. An insert seals the firebox either way and runs a new stainless liner up the chimney, which also shrugs off the wet far better than old clay tile. The gas version adds a licensed fuel line — we pull the Transylvania County permit and pressure-test it.
Downtown homes and mountain cabins
Brevard splits between in-town homes and cabins tucked up the mountain roads, and use pattern matters. A cabin that sits empty midweek favors a gas insert that lights instantly for the weekend; a full-time home with a woodpile can lean wood. Our showroom is 40 minutes away in Asheville — call (828) 545-0525 for a free in-home assessment.
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.
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