Author Topic: Cost/feasibility of replacing free standing wood fireplace with gas fireplace?  (Read 1254 times)

ender

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We have a free standing wood stove that we rarely use because of the energy required to start a fire, etc.

We're wondering about what it'd cost to replace with a free standing gas stove. Almost everything I can find online relates to replacing a wood fireplace - not a freestanding stove - so it's been difficult finding information about this.

Anyone have insights/experience?

FallenTimber

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We’ve replaced our wood burning stove with a gas stove, as well as adding an additional gas stove. We LOVE them. They are our only heat source in the house (1100 sq ft).

I did both installations myself, but you’ll likely need to get a permit for the gas line installation. The cost will depend on how far you need to run the gas line to tie in with your propane or natural gas lines. A plumber can give you a quote, but I would estimate $500-$1,000 for the gas line.

The stove itself will be in the $2000-$5000 neighborhood, depending on size, BTU, thermostats, fans, etc.

The chimney piping will also need to be replaced to some degree, which will add between $200-600 in materials (the chimney piping is obscenely expensive for what it is) plus labor costs (perhaps a couple hundred).

Hopefully that gives you a rough idea. I can give more details on any of the above if you’d like.

Unique User

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When we lived in CO, we replaced our freestanding wood stove with a propane stove that looked just like a wood stove.  The stove was our only heat and I also LOVED it.  I loved that I could flick a switch for heat rather than build a fire.  I'm a city girl and thought wood heat would be so charming when we moved to rural CO.  Yeah, not so freaking charming when you wake up at 2am freezing because you banked the fire incorrectly or because southern CO only has softwoods in the mountains and we harvested our own wood and the damn fire went out.  I loved that our house and clothes did not smell like smoke.  I loved it so much that I raved to a family member that went out that day and replaced their wood burning insert with a gas insert. 

The cost @FallenTimber quotes sounds about right.  We bought a Majestic and in 7 years never needed a repair.  The only con we noticed is that at 2 miles above sea level you get a LOT of snow.  When we had the wood stove it would heat our rock chimney which heated the metal roof which kept the level of snow on our roof down somewhat.  With a propane stove, we had to shovel the roof more often. 

ender

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Hmmm. More expensive than I was hoping.

I suppose the best next step is just having someone come out and look at it and getting us a quote.