Warm, Reliable Heat Without the Wood Smoke.

Most gas fireplace and insert installations in the Country Homes area run somewhere between $3,500 and $9,500, depending on the unit and the venting path. Converting an existing masonry fireplace to a direct-vent gas insert—using the existing chimney chase with a liner—tends to land on the lower end. A new built-in gas fireplace in a remodel, especially one that requires a new gas line run from the meter, sits higher. Homes already served by Avista's gas lines usually see lower costs than properties that need a fresh service tap or a propane tank setup. A local dealer can give you a firm number after walking your home.

Yes, and it's one of the more common projects in this part of Spokane County. Many of the ranch-style homes built here in the 1960s and 70s came with open masonry fireplaces that see little use today, partly because Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency curtailment periods discourage open wood burning during winter inversions. A gas insert slides into that existing firebox, uses a stainless liner run through the same chimney, and typically costs $4,000 to $8,500 installed. You keep the look of the original masonry surround while gaining heat you can actually run through a cold January night.

Most of Country Homes falls within Avista's natural gas service territory, since the utility runs lines throughout this part of Spokane County. If you already have a gas water heater, furnace, or range, you're almost certainly set up for a gas fireplace with a simple branch line. A handful of properties toward the edges of the service area, particularly larger lots closer to the Little Spokane River corridor, sit outside the gas mains and rely on propane instead. Either fuel works in the same fireplace models—your installer just sets the orifice and regulator for whichever you have.

Most direct-vent gas fireplaces with intermittent pilot ignition (IPI) include a battery backup that keeps the unit running when Avista or Inland Power & Light service drops—which happens here during winter windstorms. As long as the batteries are fresh, the fireplace lights and operates normally off battery power. Valor fireplaces skip the battery question altogether: their pilot assembly generates its own electricity through a thermocouple, so the fireplace works during an outage with no batteries to check. Worth asking about if you want one less thing to maintain.

A gas fireplace is a fully built-in unit framed into a wall—the right choice for new construction or a remodel without an existing firebox. A gas insert is sized to slide into an existing masonry fireplace opening, which fits a lot of the older homes around Country Homes that already have a chimney and firebox but rarely use them. A gas stove is freestanding, sitting on its own hearth pad, and works well in a room without any existing masonry at all. For most homeowners here converting an old wood fireplace, the insert is the natural fit.

Yes. Because Country Homes is unincorporated, permits go through the Spokane County Building and Planning Department rather than a city office. A new gas fireplace or insert typically needs both a mechanical/building permit and a gas piping permit, and the gas line work has to be done or supervised by a licensed gas fitter. Most established hearth dealers in the Spokane area pull these permits as part of the installation, so you're not coordinating separate inspections yourself.

Direct-vent (sealed combustion) units are the standard choice in Country Homes and across Washington generally—they draw outside air for combustion and exhaust everything back outside, so they don't affect indoor air quality. Vent-free gas fireplaces burn directly into the room and are subject to tighter restrictions under Washington's mechanical code, including minimum room-size and ventilation requirements, and many local dealers simply don't stock them. Given that wildfire smoke and winter inversions already stress air quality in the Spokane valley, most homeowners here choose direct-vent for the peace of mind alone.

Plan on an annual inspection, ideally in late summer before the heating season starts. A technician checks the burner, pilot assembly, venting, and gas connections, and cleans the glass and interior—usually $150 to $250 for a standard inspection in the Spokane area. It's a lighter lift than chimney sweeping for a wood stove, but skipping it is still the main reason gas units develop pilot or ignition problems mid-winter.

Two things push most homeowners here toward gas. First, Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency issues burn curtailments during winter temperature inversions and wildfire-smoke events, which restrict or discourage open wood burning on the worst air days—sometimes for days at a stretch. Second, most Country Homes lots don't have the space for a cord-wood storage setup that makes wood heat practical. If you're set on wood, cutting permits are still available through the BLM Spokane District or the Idaho Panhandle National Forests for around $10 a cord, but new wood-stove installations are rare in this neighborhood now. Gas gives you comparable heat output without the smoke, the storage, or the curtailment risk.

If it was installed more than 15 years ago, probably. Older gas fireplaces keep a standing pilot light burning all the time, and that little flame can cost a couple hundred dollars a year. Newer models use pilot-on-demand ignition—the pilot lights only when you use the fireplace and goes out when you turn it off.

An insert does two things: it seals the chimney completely, so you stop losing air you already paid to heat, and it radiates warmth into the room through the firebox and glass. Most add a heat-exchange fan that pulls cool room air underneath, wraps it around the hot firebox, and pushes it back out warm. Your home is more efficient before you've even lit the first fire.

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.

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.