Gas heat built for Lanark winters that dip below minus 15.

Installs typically run $6,000 to $15,000 CAD. A direct-vent insert going into an existing masonry firebox—common in the older homes near the canal and downtown core—tends to land in the lower half of that range, since the chimney chase is already built. A new built-in unit for an addition or basement remodel, especially one needing a fresh gas line run from the meter, pushes toward the top. Properties outside the Enbridge Gas service area that need a propane tank set should budget a bit more on top of the fireplace install itself.

Yes, and it's a common upgrade in Smiths Falls, especially for owners of older masonry fireplaces originally built to burn local sugar maple or red oak who are ready to skip the splitting and stacking. A gas insert generally slides into the existing firebox with a liner run through the current chimney, and most conversions in town land between $6,000 and $11,000 depending on whether you're tying into Enbridge Gas or setting up a propane tank. It also sidesteps the WETT inspection insurers ask for on wood appliances, since a gas insert falls under a different code path entirely.

Most addresses inside town limits are on the Enbridge Gas system, which makes a natural gas fireplace a straightforward add-on if your furnace or water heater is already tied in. Once you're out past the edges of town and into the rest of Lanark, service gets patchy fast, and propane becomes the default—a tank installation adds cost but doesn't limit which fireplace models are available to you. Your dealer can usually confirm which side of that line your address falls on before you commit to a model.

Most will, and that matters in a Lanark winter where ice storms have a track record of knocking out power for days at a time. Units with intermittent pilot ignition run on a small battery backup that kicks in automatically. Some manufacturers, including Valor, use a millivolt system that generates its own current off the pilot's thermocouple and skips the battery altogether. If backup heat during an outage is a priority, tell your dealer up front—it narrows the model list quickly.

A gas fireplace is a built-in unit framed into a wall, the usual choice for new construction or a full renovation. A gas insert fits into an existing masonry firebox, which is the common route in Smiths Falls homes built with a wood-burning fireplace decades ago and still using the original chimney. 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 split maple or oak. For most existing homes in town, an insert is the least disruptive option.

Yes. The install goes through the municipal building department, and the gas connection itself has to be done by a TSSA-licensed gas fitter, separate from the building permit. Most established local dealers coordinate both the permit and the final gas inspection as part of the job, so you're not chasing two approvals on your own.

No—unlike some U.S. markets, unvented gas fireplaces aren't approved for residential use in Canada, so every installation in Smiths Falls is either direct-vent or B-vent. Direct-vent is the more common choice locally: it draws combustion air from outside and exhausts sealed through a wall or roof, which also makes it the more efficient option through a heating season that runs five months or longer here.

Plan on an annual check, ideally in September or early October before the first real cold snap rather than mid-winter when technicians in the Lanark area are booked solid. A tech checks the burner, pilot assembly, gas connections, and venting, and cleans the glass. It's a lighter job than a wood chimney sweep, but skipping it on a fireplace running daily through a Smiths Falls winter is how a pilot or ignition problem shows up on the coldest night of January.

Wood, split from the sugar maple, red oak, and yellow birch that fill the bush around Lanark, still wins on fuel cost for households with land or a supplier nearby, and it keeps working without electricity during an ice storm outage. Gas wins on convenience and on install simplicity for anyone already on the Enbridge Gas network—no cutting, stacking, or WETT inspection to satisfy an insurer. A fair number of Smiths Falls households run gas in the main living space for everyday use and keep a wood stove or insert elsewhere 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.

Fireplaces are like icebergs—bigger behind the wall than in front of it. Replacement means removing the surrounding tile or stone (the finish material laps onto the fireplace face), pulling the old unit, setting the new one in the same enclosure, and re-finishing the wall. A hearth professional can determine what's behind your wall without demolition during an in-home preview.

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.