Wood-burning insert vs gas insert — which should I choose?
In Clyde, it's the dated fireplaces driving upgrades. The 1960s-to-'80s ranch homes here came with fireboxes that are ready for a sealed insert, and the choice is straightforward: gas for low-maintenance, switch-on heat, or wood for cheaper, grid-independent warmth if you'll do the work. Either one turns an aging, heat-losing firebox into an efficient heater — with a fresh liner that also fights river humidity.
Ranch-era fireplaces, ready for inserts
Clyde's housing skews toward 1960s-to-'80s ranch-style builds, and their original fireplaces are exactly the kind that pay off from an insert — dated, inefficient, and often a heat loss on cold nights. Sliding in a sealed gas or wood insert with a right-sized stainless liner converts that firebox into a genuine heater, commonly far more efficient than the open box. A wood insert rewards an owner who has a wood source and enjoys the fire; a gas insert delivers the same warmth on a remote, holding a set temperature with no ash to carry.
River humidity and the liner
Clyde shares Canton and Waynesville's cold-air drainage, and the river humidity in this valley rusts dampers and degrades masonry chimneys faster than in drier spots. A tired, damp flue is part of why an open fireplace drafts poorly. The new stainless liner that comes with either insert seals that chimney and stands up to the moisture far better than old clay tile. Clyde's fuel is mixed — a gas insert runs on natural gas or propane once it's set for your fuel — and connecting it is licensed work we permit with Haywood County and pressure-test.
Come see both burn
Our Asheville showroom is 25 minutes away with gas and wood inserts burning side by side. Call (828) 545-0525 for a free in-home assessment of your Clyde fireplace.
Fireplace help in Clyde
We install and service fireplaces throughout Clyde and the rest of Haywood County — just 25 minutes west from our Asheville-area showroom.
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