Reliable heat for Pulaski County's occasional cold snap.

Most gas fireplace or insert installations in this part of Pulaski County run roughly $3,500 to $9,000, with the spread driven mostly by whether you already have gas service at the house. A propane-fed direct-vent insert going into an existing masonry fireplace, with a tank already in place, lands on the lower end. A new built-in gas fireplace for a remodel—with framing, venting, and a fresh gas line or propane tank setup—runs toward the higher end. Because Landmark sits outside city gas mains in places, a local dealer will need to confirm whether you're a CenterPoint Energy Arkansas natural gas customer or a propane household before quoting a firm number.

Yes, and it's a common upgrade for older Pulaski County homes built around a masonry fireplace. A gas insert typically slides into the existing firebox and vents through a stainless liner run up the same chimney, so you keep the look of your fireplace while gaining push-button heat. Expect $3,500 to $7,500 depending on the insert and whether the home is already plumbed for gas or needs a propane tank set. It's a straightforward way to keep an old oak- or hickory-burning fireplace in service without hauling and stacking wood every winter.

Both are used in the Landmark area, but propane is the more common choice outside the reach of CenterPoint Energy Arkansas's natural gas mains, which don't extend to every unincorporated pocket of Pulaski County. If your home already runs on natural gas for a furnace or water heater, adding a fireplace is usually a simple tap-in. If not, a propane tank installed by a regional supplier is the standard fallback, and nearly every gas fireplace or insert on the market can be configured for either fuel with the right orifice kit.

Most will, and that matters here—Arkansas's ice storms have historically been more disruptive to Pulaski County power than winter cold itself. Units with intermittent pilot ignition (IPI) run on a small battery backup that kicks the flame on automatically when the power drops, so the fireplace still lights on command. Valor fireplaces go a step further: their pilot assembly generates its own electricity through the thermocouple, so there's no battery to remember or replace. For a Landmark home that's lost power during a January ice event, that's a meaningful difference—ask your local dealer which ignition system a given unit uses.

A gas fireplace is a fully built-in unit framed into a wall, typically chosen for new construction or a remodel. A gas insert is built to drop into an existing masonry firebox, using your current chimney as the vent path—the right fit for the older brick fireplaces common in this part of Pulaski County. A gas stove is freestanding, sitting on the floor like a wood stove but running on gas or propane, which works well in a room without any existing fireplace. Most Landmark homeowners looking to upgrade a wood-burning fireplace end up with an insert.

Yes. As an unincorporated part of Pulaski County, permitting runs through the Pulaski County Department of Planning and Development rather than a city building office, and both a building permit and a gas line permit are typically required for a new installation. Gas line work has to be done by a licensed gas-fitter, which is one reason it's worth using a certified hearth dealer—they coordinate the gas or propane hookup, venting, and inspection as one job instead of leaving you to line up separate trades.

Arkansas doesn't prohibit vent-free (ventless) gas fireplaces the way states like California, Colorado, and Washington do, so they're an option here, subject to manufacturer room-sizing rules and an oxygen depletion sensor. That said, vented direct-vent units—which draw combustion air from outside and exhaust it back outside—remain the more commonly installed and recommended option locally, since they don't put any moisture or combustion byproducts into the living space. A local dealer can walk through both options for your specific room.

Plan on an annual inspection, ideally before the first cool snap of the season. A technician checks the burner, pilot assembly, gas connections, and venting, and cleans the glass and interior—a much smaller job than chimney sweeping for a wood unit, but still important for safe operation. Locally, this kind of annual gas appliance service typically runs $125 to $200.

Wood is still workable here—oak, hickory, and pine are all common locally, and cutting permits through the Ouachita National Forest or Ozark-St. Francis National Forests run $10 to $20 per cord during the May-through-October season. But with just a short, mild heating season each year and winter lows averaging 31°F, most Landmark homes don't need wood as a primary survival heat source the way a colder climate would. Gas tends to win for everyday convenience and hands-off ambiance, while a wood stove or insert still has a place as backup heat for extended power outages during ice storms. Plenty of local homes end up with both.

Open fireplaces suck—literally. As the fire burns, it consumes air your furnace already paid to heat and pulls it out through the chimney, so the house is actually colder after the fire goes out than before you lit it. An insert fixes this: it seals the chimney, puts fixed glass across the front, and turns that hole in your house into a real heat source.

An insert is a fireplace that slides into a pre-existing wood-burning fireplace—if you don't have one, there's nothing to insert it into. A zero-clearance fireplace is built into a framed wall, which makes it the answer for remodels and new construction. Simple test: existing masonry fireplace means insert; blank or framed wall means zero-clearance.

It's a visit where a hearth professional measures your space, confirms the model you picked actually works in your home, and walks the specs—framing, gas line, venting, finish work—before anything is ordered. Some details you just can't know until you see the house. Never make a down payment without one; it's the single most-skipped step that burns buyers.

On average, a fireplace adds back to the home about the same amount you spent installing it. Add the monthly savings from heating the rooms you actually use instead of the whole house—often hundreds of dollars a year—and the value case is strong before you even count what a fire does for how your family uses the room.