Steady gas heat for Lake Camelot's cold Illinois winters.

Because Lake Camelot runs on propane rather than a piped natural gas main, a typical direct-vent gas fireplace or insert installation runs $5,000 to $11,000—somewhat higher than a natural-gas-plumbed home in Peoria proper, mainly because the price often includes running or extending a propane line from the tank. If the home already has a propane tank and line serving a furnace or water heater, tying in a fireplace usually lands closer to $4,500-$8,500. Homes that need a brand-new propane tank set by a local supplier will sit at the higher end of the range.

Lake Camelot sits outside the natural gas distribution footprint that serves Peoria and Peoria Heights—there's no gas main reaching this part of the county. Nearly every gas appliance in the community, including fireplaces, runs on propane from a tank on the property, filled by one of the regional propane suppliers that cover rural Peoria County. Your installer configures the fireplace's orifice and regulator for propane rather than natural gas, and arranging the tank itself is typically a separate deal with a propane company, not the hearth dealer.

Some of the older homes built around the lake do have a wood-burning masonry fireplace, and those convert well to a propane gas insert using the existing chimney with a stainless liner. That said, wood-burning fireplaces and stoves are genuinely uncommon in Lake Camelot—tight lots and newer construction mean most homes were built gas- or electric-only from the start, with no chimney to convert. Where a conversion is possible, expect $4,500 to $9,000 depending on chimney condition and whether new gas line work is needed from the tank.

Most direct-vent gas fireplaces with intermittent pilot ignition (IPI) run on a small battery backup that kicks in the instant power drops, so the unit lights and runs normally during an outage. That matters here—Ameren Illinois and Spoon River Electric Cooperative both serve pockets of the Lake Camelot area, and winter ice storms have knocked out power for a day or more in past seasons. Valor fireplaces take a different approach: the pilot's thermocouple generates its own electricity, so there's no battery to remember or replace. Ask your installer which ignition system is on the unit you're considering.

A gas fireplace is a fully built-in unit framed into a wall—the right call for new construction or a home with no existing fireplace, which describes a lot of the newer builds around Lake Camelot. A gas insert drops into an existing masonry firebox and uses the chimney as its vent path, which suits the community's older lake-cottage-style homes. A gas stove is a freestanding cabinet unit on a hearth pad that doesn't need a chimney at all—a solid option for a cabin-style property with no fireplace and no interest in framing one in.

Yes. Since Lake Camelot is unincorporated, gas fireplace installations go through the Peoria County Building & Zoning Department rather than a city building office, and the propane line work requires a licensed gas fitter regardless of jurisdiction. Most hearth dealers working in this area handle the county permit application and inspection scheduling as part of the install, so it typically isn't something you manage yourself.

Vented, direct-vent gas fireplaces draw combustion air from outside and exhaust byproducts back outside through a sealed pipe—they're the standard, code-compliant choice and what most installers around Peoria County recommend. Vent-free units burn directly into the room and are legal in Illinois with proper room sizing and oxygen-depletion sensors, but they add moisture and combustion byproducts to indoor air, which matters more in the tightly sealed newer construction common around the lake. For most Lake Camelot homes, a direct-vent unit is the better long-term choice.

Plan on an annual inspection, ideally before heating season starts each fall. A technician checks the burner, pilot assembly, propane line connections, and venting, then cleans the glass and interior. This typically runs $150 to $250 in the Peoria area and is far less involved than a wood chimney sweep, but propane systems specifically should have the regulator and line checked during that visit, since propane runs at a different pressure than natural gas.

Wood-burning stoves and fireplaces are genuinely rare in Lake Camelot—most homes were built without a chimney, and the community's lot sizes and covenants make wood storage and burning impractical for most owners, so it's not a fuel type local dealers push here. That leaves gas and electric as the real choice. A propane gas fireplace or insert delivers strong, consistent heat even on the coldest nights near the 18°F average low, and it keeps working in an outage with a battery-backup pilot. Electric fireplaces cost less upfront (roughly $400-$1,500) and run on the existing Ameren Illinois or Spoon River Electric Cooperative service, but can't match propane's output during a real cold snap. For primary or serious supplemental heat, gas wins in this climate; for ambiance or a secondary room, electric is often plenty.

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.

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.

For an average home—covering the fireplace, the vent pipe, and basic installation—a budget between $3,900 and $5,500 gives you a lot of options across wood, gas, and pellet. By the time you add finish work, gas line, and electrical, the average complete installation lands between $5,000 and $12,000 all-in. In a remodel or new build, a good rule is to put about 2.5% of the total project cost toward the fireplace.

If you're putting a fire in your house on purpose, it's best to work with an expert. Unless you're genuinely experienced in framing, gas line, vent pipe, and the national code on clearances to combustibles, have a professional do it—and ideally the same company that sells you the fireplace, so warranty, service, and liability all live under one roof.