How We Verify Dealers

Every dealer on this site carries one of three labels. This page explains exactly what each one means, how we check it, and—just as importantly—what we do not claim.

We built this page because the honest version of our directory is more useful than a flattering one. A label that means nothing is worse than no label at all.

The three labels

Preferred 139 listings

An active WhyFire customer. They run our software, which means this site can show you their real pricing and let you book an appointment directly. We have a commercial relationship with these dealers: they pay for software, not for placement. When a Preferred dealer is within range, your project request goes to them first.

Authorized 2,066 listings

Matched against the dealer networks published by the brands we recommend—Valor, Blaze King, Renaissance, RSF, Empire, Barbara Jean, Osburn, Montigo, Enerzone and Valcourt. Where a dealer is matched, their card lists which of those brands they carry, so you can check the claim rather than take our word for it.

In Atlantic Canada (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador), Authorized means Compact, the region's hearth distributor, has authorized the dealer for the brands it carries.

Listed 3,049 listings

A local business that carries hearth products, where we have not verified brand authorization. We show them because in much of the country they are the closest option—a building supply store in rural Alaska may be the only place within a hundred miles that sells a stove. We label them so you know what you are looking at.

How the matching works

Manufacturers publish the dealers authorized to sell their equipment. We match our directory against those lists by dealer identity and record which recommended brands each one carries. A match earns the Authorized label; no match leaves the listing as Listed.

We match on the manufacturer's list rather than on the business name, and that distinction matters. A shop called "Ace Hardware" or "Spenard Building Supply" reads like it has nothing to do with fireplaces—but in Kotzebue, Alaska, that building supply store is the authorized Blaze King dealer. Judging by name would have deleted real dealers from the places that need them most. The manufacturer's list is the evidence; the sign over the door is not.

How we rank dealers

When you ask for a Project Guide, the dealer we recommend is chosen in this order:

In Utah, project requests can also go to dealers in the Utah Fireplace Pros network (ICS Distributors), the region's hearth distributor, in the same order of distance.

What never changes our recommendations

Which fireplaces we recommend depends on your situation, your space, your fuel, your climate, and what dealers near you actually carry. A dealer's subscription never changes it, and no manufacturer pays to be recommended.

The one regional exception: in Atlantic Canada where no Preferred dealer serves your area, and in Utah when your request goes to a Utah Fireplace Pros dealer, we recommend from the lineup of the region's distributor (Compact in Atlantic Canada, Utah Fireplace Pros in Utah), so the fireplaces we show are ones those local dealers can actually supply and service.

What we do not claim

Where the data comes from, and where it is weak

Dealer records are assembled from manufacturer dealer locators and public business listings. That means the directory inherits their errors: duplicate entries, businesses that have closed, phone numbers that have moved. We fix these as we find them.

If a page shows no dealers at all, it means none serve that area within our search radius. Those pages are excluded from search engines rather than presented as though we had an answer.

Found something wrong?

If you are a dealer and your listing is wrong, missing, or in the wrong tier—or if you would rather not be listed—tell us and we will correct it. That applies whether or not you are a WhyFire customer.

To help us fix it quickly, include your business name and address, the brands you are authorized to sell, and a link to your listing on the manufacturer's dealer locator if you have one. Subscribing to WhyFire is never required to be listed or to dispute a listing.

Counts as of 7 August 2026: 139 Preferred, 2,066 Authorized, 3,049 Listed—5,254 listings in total. Verification is re-checked as manufacturer dealer lists are refreshed.