Gas Fire, Island Style—Built for Ambiance, Not Necessity.

For heat, no—with only 56 heating degree days a year, you'll almost never need supplemental warmth. But homeowners still install them, mostly for the visual of real flame in a living room or primary suite, to add a design feature to a waterfront remodel, or to boost appeal on a vacation rental listing. If ambiance and resale value matter more than BTUs, a small direct-vent gas unit can make sense here—just go in knowing it's a design decision, not a heating one.

Because there's no natural gas main on the island, every installation runs on propane, which adds a tank setup on top of the unit and venting. Expect a small direct-vent gas fireplace or insert to run in the neighborhood of $3,500 to $8,000 once you include a propane tank (or tie-in to an existing one), venting rated for a salt-air environment, and labor. Historic Old Town properties often run higher once HARC review and custom millwork around the unit are factored in. A local installer can give you a firm number after seeing the site.

Propane is effectively your only option. Key West has no citywide natural gas utility, so gas fireplaces here are fed by a propane tank rather than a gas main. Most installers either tie into an existing propane tank already serving your range or water heater, or set a new smaller tank specifically for the fireplace. FPL, the local electric utility, has no involvement in gas service—it only covers electricity, which is why electric fireplaces are actually the more common choice islandwide.

Yes. The City of Key West Building Department requires a permit for gas line and venting work, and if your home sits within the Old Town historic district, you'll also need sign-off from the Historic Architectural Review Commission (HARC) before any exterior vent termination or visible flue can go on the building. This HARC step catches a lot of homeowners off guard—it's specific to Key West's historic housing stock and isn't something you'd deal with on the mainland. A local installer who's done historic-district work before can walk the HARC process for you.

I'd steer away from them here. Vent-free units release combustion byproducts, including water vapor, directly into the room, and Key West already runs high ambient humidity most of the year. Adding more moisture indoors is the last thing you want in a coastal home already fighting mold and mildew. Direct-vent gas fireplaces, which draw combustion air from outside and exhaust it back outside through a sealed system, are the better call—they don't add humidity load and they hold up better against the salt air.

Electric fireplaces skip propane tanks, gas lines, and combustion venting entirely—a real advantage on an island where flood zones, salt-air corrosion, and historic-district review all complicate gas installs. They also plug into standard household wiring, run cheaply given how little they're actually needed for heat, and work well in condos and rentals where a fuel-burning appliance isn't practical. For most Key West homeowners who just want the visual of flame without the ambiance of true heat, electric is the simpler and cheaper path—though it does depend on FPL power, which is worth weighing for hurricane season.

A propane-fed gas fireplace with intermittent pilot ignition (IPI) and battery backup will still light during a power outage, since the pilot doesn't rely on grid electricity. Some brands, like Valor, generate their own electricity through the pilot's thermocouple and need no batteries at all—a genuine advantage during the extended outages Key West sometimes sees after a storm. An electric fireplace, by contrast, goes dark the moment FPL service drops. If storm-season reliability matters to you, that's a real point in gas's favor even in a climate that otherwise barely needs it.

Small linear direct-vent units are the most common choice in Key West, especially in remodeled Conch houses and waterfront condos where the goal is a clean sightline of flame rather than a large heating appliance. Because these installs are about aesthetics, homeowners often prioritize glass media or driftwood-style logs over a traditional log set, and choose venting components rated for coastal salt-air exposure to avoid premature corrosion. A local dealer can match a unit's proportions to your room rather than oversizing for heat you won't need.

Electric is simpler here: no propane tank, no gas line, no HARC review for venting, and a lower upfront cost—a solid fit for condos, rentals, and anyone who just wants ambiance with minimal fuss. Gas costs more to install and requires navigating propane supply and historic-district permitting, but it delivers a real flame and, with the right ignition system, can still operate during a hurricane power outage. If you're renovating a waterfront home and want the authentic look and storm resilience, gas is worth the extra steps. If you just want flicker and glow in a condo, electric is the practical choice.

Yes—with an asterisk. Fireplaces are hot and TVs don't like heat. Either put a mantel between them to deflect rising warmth, or choose a fireplace with heat-management technology that creates a cool zone on the wall above—the wall stays around 125 degrees, barely warm, while the room still gets full heat. If you like clean lines and don't want a mantel, heat management is the answer.

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.

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.

Yes—by creating a comfort zone. A furnace heats every square foot of the house just to warm the one room you're in; a gas fireplace on low burns roughly a sixth of the gas a typical furnace does. Set the furnace around 55–60 degrees as a baseline, then heat the rooms your family actually uses. Families who heat this way commonly save $20–$60 a month.