Find the right heat source for a Lakes Region winter.

It depends on the home and how it's used. Wood remains a strong primary or supplemental choice here—the county's maple, birch, beech, and oak forests keep cordwood affordable and plentiful, and a cast-iron or steel stove can carry a house through a stretch of single-digit nights the way it has for generations of Lakes Region families. Gas, mostly propane since natural gas service is limited outside Laconia's denser neighborhoods, is the low-maintenance choice for year-round homes and second homes that sit empty for weeks at a time. Pellet stoves work well for households that want wood-like heat without splitting and stacking—New England Wood Pellet and Lignetics both have regional supply into New Hampshire, so fuel isn't hard to find. Electric fireplaces are common as supplemental heat in bedrooms, additions, and lakeside camps that only get used seasonally, but with such a long, cold heating season, electric alone rarely carries a whole house through winter. Many Belknap County homes run wood or pellet as the primary heat source with propane or electric backup for shoulder seasons.

Generally yes. New Hampshire municipalities in Belknap County—Laconia, Gilford, Alton, Meredith, Belmont, and the rest—require building permits for wood stove and insert installations, gas fireplace and insert installs, and pellet stove installs. Gas work also requires a licensed gas fitter for the line connection, separate from the building permit. Wood-burning appliances installed new should meet current EPA emissions standards; your local retailer can confirm which models qualify. Permits are issued through each town's building department rather than a single county office, so a Gilford installation and a Laconia installation go through different desks even though they're a few miles apart. Electric fireplaces typically skip the permit process unless the installation involves new wiring or a dedicated circuit. Most hearth retailers in the county handle the permit paperwork as part of the installation quote.

No—Belknap County has no air quality non-attainment designation and no seasonal wood-burning curtailment program, which sets it apart from western counties that deal with winter inversions. That said, new stove installations are still expected to meet current EPA New Source Performance Standards, and most local building departments will ask for documentation on the model being installed. If you're replacing an older, uncertified stove, it's worth checking whether your town or the state offers any incentive for upgrading to a cleaner-burning unit—programs shift year to year, so ask your local retailer what's currently available.

Several Belknap County retailers carry three or four fuel types, which is useful if you're still deciding between, say, a pellet insert and a propane unit. Dealers based in Laconia and Gilford tend to have the broadest floor displays since they serve the highest-traffic lake corridor. Smaller shops closer to Alton or Barnstead may lean more heavily toward wood and pellet, reflecting what their rural customer base actually installs. If electric is part of your plan—for a camp addition or a bedroom, for instance—ask specifically, since not every wood-and-gas-focused dealer stocks a deep electric lineup. Cross-shopping in person at a multi-fuel dealer is the most reliable way to see real clearances and venting requirements side by side before you commit.

Belknap County has a large share of seasonal camps and second homes around Lake Winnipesaukee, which changes how service scheduling works compared to a year-round neighborhood. Technicians based in Laconia and Gilford routinely travel out to Meredith Bay, Alton Bay, and the more remote shoreline roads, but if a camp sits unheated for months, a stove or chimney should get inspected before the first fire of the season rather than assumed fine from last spring. Scheduling in September or early October, ahead of the first hard frost, is easier than trying to get an emergency appointment once temperatures drop into the teens. For camps that only get occasional weekend use, pairing a wood stove with a propane backup is common, since propane doesn't require the same pre-season inspection urgency that a chimney does.

Costs vary by fuel and by how much chimney or venting work is involved. Wood stove or insert installation: roughly $4,000–$8,500 for a typical install, more if new chimney construction is needed for a home without an existing masonry flue. Gas fireplace, insert, or stove: roughly $4,000–$10,500, with propane line work and venting driving most of the range. Pellet stove or insert: roughly $4,000–$7,000 for a standard install. Electric fireplace: $200–$3,000 for the unit itself, plus $400–$1,200 in labor for anything beyond a simple plug-and-play placement. See the county + fuel pages above for cost detail tied to specific local retailers.

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.

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.

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.

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.