Find your gas fireplace along the Grand Strand.

A typical gas fireplace installation in Horry County runs roughly $3,500 to $9,500, depending on the unit and how much venting and gas line work is involved. A direct-vent insert going into an existing gas line and existing masonry opening—common in older Conway and Myrtle Beach homes—lands on the lower end. A new direct-vent fireplace for new construction, a condo remodel, or a home needing a fresh gas line run sits higher. Because of the county's humid, salt-air coastal environment, installers typically spec stainless steel venting components rather than standard galvanized, which adds a modest amount to material cost but avoids premature corrosion.

Wood heat has never really taken hold in Horry County—with winter lows averaging in the mid-30s, most local wood-burning fireplaces (common in older homes built before central air was standard) sit unused for years at a time except for the occasional cool December evening. Converting that old masonry fireplace to a gas insert is one of the most common projects local dealers handle: it keeps the look of the original opening, uses the existing chimney as a liner path, and gives you a fireplace you'll actually use instead of one that collects dust and the occasional bird's nest.

Either works, and the right choice usually comes down to where you live. Piedmont Natural Gas serves most of the incorporated Grand Strand—Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Conway, and Surfside Beach—so homes there typically tie into an existing gas line. Out in the more rural parts of the county, toward Aynor, Loris, and the Little Pee Dee River area, propane is the standard fallback, usually from a buried or above-ground tank. Most fireplace models can be configured for either fuel; your installer sets the orifice and regulator to match.

This matters more in Horry County than in most places, given how often hurricane season knocks out power along the Grand Strand. Gas fireplaces with IPI (intermittent pilot ignition) run on a small battery backup that kicks in automatically when utility power drops, so the fireplace still lights on demand. Valor units take it a step further—their pilot assembly generates its own electricity through the thermocouple, so there are no batteries to remember at all. For coastal homes that lose power for days after a tropical storm, that's a real difference, and worth asking a local dealer about directly.

A gas fireplace is a fully built-in unit framed into a wall—the standard choice for new construction and Grand Strand condo remodels. A gas insert drops into an existing masonry opening, which fits a lot of the older housing stock around Conway and the older Myrtle Beach neighborhoods. A gas stove is a freestanding unit, less common here since most Horry County homes either have an existing fireplace opening to convert or are new builds designed around a built-in unit. Local dealers can walk through which fits your specific opening.

Yes. Unincorporated Horry County installations go through the Horry County Building Codes Enforcement office, while incorporated cities—Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Conway, Surfside Beach—issue their own permits separately. Both a building permit and a gas permit are typically required, and the gas line work has to be done by a licensed gas-fitter. Most established hearth dealers handle the paperwork as part of the installation, coordinating the gas and building inspections together rather than leaving you to manage two separate trades.

Vented (direct-vent) units draw combustion air from outside and exhaust it back outside through sealed venting—the safer, code-compliant standard almost everywhere, including South Carolina. Vent-free units burn fuel directly into the room, which is legal here but worth thinking twice about along the coast: Horry County's air is already humid most of the year, and vent-free units add water vapor directly into your living space, which can make an already damp coastal home feel stickier and increase the risk of mold in poorly ventilated rooms. For most Grand Strand homes, direct-vent is the practical recommendation.

An annual inspection is standard for any gas fireplace—checking the burner, pilot assembly, gas connections, and venting, plus cleaning the glass. In Horry County specifically, salt air accelerates corrosion on exterior venting caps and termination points faster than it would inland, so a yearly look is worth keeping on schedule even if the unit seems to be running fine. Local gas appliance technicians typically charge $150 to $250 for the visit.

With wood and pellet heat rarely used in Horry County's mild climate, the real choice most homeowners face is gas versus electric. Gas delivers a genuine flame and real heat output, which matters on the occasional 20-degree night, but requires a gas line and venting. Electric fireplaces need neither—they plug into a standard outlet, install in an afternoon, and are popular in HOA-restricted condos and rental properties along the beach where running new gas line or venting isn't practical. If you want authentic flame and real warmth for a primary living space, gas wins. If you want simple ambiance in a condo or guest room with no construction involved, electric is usually the better fit.

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.

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.

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.

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.