Push-button heat for Listowel winters that average -10.9°C.

Budget $6,000 to $15,000 CAD. An insert dropping into an existing masonry firebox with a gas line already nearby—common in older homes near downtown Listowel—sits toward the lower end. A new built-in unit for an addition or renovation, with fresh Enbridge Gas line runs and venting through an exterior wall or roof, lands toward the top. If your property sits outside the Enbridge Gas footprint and needs a propane tank set, add that cost on top of the fireplace install itself.

Yes, and it's a common upgrade for owners of older masonry fireplaces built decades ago to burn local sugar maple or red oak who are ready to stop splitting and stacking. A gas insert typically slides into the existing firebox with a liner run up the current chimney. Because you're switching fuels, the CSA B365 wood code and the WETT inspection insurers usually require for wood appliances no longer apply—the gas insert falls under CSA B149 instead, inspected as part of your municipal building permit.

Either works, and it depends on your address. Enbridge Gas serves most of Listowel proper, so if your furnace or water heater already runs on natural gas, adding a fireplace is a simple tie-in for a licensed gas fitter. Homes on the outskirts or further out in Perth Region that sit off the Enbridge network typically run on propane instead, with a tank set specified as part of the install. Most fireplace models a local dealer carries can be configured for either fuel.

Most will, which is worth knowing given how often winter storms knock out power across rural Perth Region. Units with intermittent pilot ignition (IPI) run their igniter off a small circuit board backed by AA batteries, so they keep firing during an outage. Standing-pilot models skip electronics almost entirely, relying on a thermocouple that generates its own current. If reliable heat during an outage matters to your household, ask your dealer which ignition system is on any model you're considering before you buy.

A gas fireplace is a built-in unit framed into a wall, the typical choice for new construction or a full renovation. A gas insert fits inside an existing masonry firebox, which is the more common route in older Listowel homes that originally burned sugar maple or ash and want to keep using the existing chimney chase. A gas stove is freestanding on a hearth pad, similar footprint to a wood stove but running off a gas line or propane tank instead of cordwood. For most existing homes in town, an insert is the least disruptive option.

Yes. You'll need a permit through your municipal building department, and the gas connection itself must be done by a TSSA-licensed gas fitter under the CSA B149 installation code. Most local hearth dealers who work in Perth Region coordinate both the building permit and the gas hookup inspection as part of the project, so you're not managing two separate approvals yourself.

Direct-vent units draw combustion air from outside and exhaust it back outside through sealed venting, and they're the standard, code-compliant choice for a Listowel living room used daily through a long heating season. Vent-free units burn into the room and come with strict square-footage rules that many Ontario municipalities restrict for continuous residential use. Given how many hours a fireplace runs here from November through March, most local dealers steer homeowners toward direct-vent for better indoor air quality and more flexible placement options.

Plan on an annual check, ideally in late summer or early fall before the first cold snap rather than mid-winter when technicians are booked solid. A service visit covers the burner, pilot assembly, gas connections, and glass, and typically runs $150 to $250 CAD. Skipping it on a unit that runs daily through a Listowel winter is how a pilot or ignition issue shows up on the coldest night of the year instead of during a routine check.

Wood still has real appeal here—sugar maple, red oak, white ash, and yellow birch are all split locally, and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources allows up to 10 cubic metres, about 4 cords, per household free of charge in managed forest zones. But wood appliances need a WETT inspection for insurance and fall under the CSA B365 code, plus ongoing splitting and stacking. Gas skips all of that: no ongoing permit renewal, no WETT requirement, and heat at the push of a button through Enbridge Gas or a propane tank. Most households in town run gas as the daily driver and, if they keep wood at all, use it as backup for extended outages.

Most modern gas fireplaces can—turn it on and off from the couch with a remote, or set a room temperature and let the fireplace hold the comfort zone for you. If low maintenance matters to your family, this is the feature set that makes gas the convenience pick over wood and pellet.

Because a fireplace is an iceberg—there's more behind the wall than in front of it. A low quote often covers only the unit; the full scope includes vent pipe, gas line or electrical, framing, and the tile or stone that has to come off and go back on. Make every bidder price the whole job. If a dealer can't speak to the full scope with confidence, that's your signal to keep looking.

Four numbers tell you what fits: the front width, the front height, the back width, and the overall depth of your existing fireplace opening. Grab a tape measure, jot those down, and snap a photo of the wall—those two things do more to move your project forward than anything else you can do today.

Most fireplaces are a thin metal box—they heat fine, but you rely on the fan to move the warmth into the room. Radiant models use a thick cast-ceramic firebox, about an inch and a quarter thick, that soaks up the fire's heat and radiates roughly 25–30% more warmth into the room with no fan running. If you watch TV in the same room or want heat in a power outage, radiant is worth asking about.