Instant heat for St. Croix County's long, cold winters.

Most gas fireplace installations in St. Croix County run somewhere between $3,500 and $10,000, with the spread driven mainly by venting and gas line work. A direct-vent insert going into an existing masonry fireplace in an older Hudson or River Falls home—with a gas line already nearby—lands on the lower end. A new built-in gas fireplace for a remodel or new construction, especially one requiring a fresh gas line run or a propane tank setup in a rural township, runs toward the higher end. A local dealer will give you a firm number after seeing your home in person.

Yes, and it's a common project among the older housing stock in Hudson and New Richmond. A gas insert typically drops into your existing masonry fireplace, running a stainless liner up your current chimney rather than requiring new venting from scratch. If you're on the Xcel Energy natural gas line already, the conversion is usually simpler and cheaper than if you need a propane tank installed for a rural property. You keep the look of your existing hearth while gaining instant, no-mess heat.

Both work fine, and which one you use mostly comes down to where you live in the county. Homes in Hudson and along much of the I-94 corridor typically have access to Xcel Energy natural gas service, which makes adding a fireplace simple if you already have gas appliances. In the more rural stretches—around Star Prairie, Glenwood City, and the outlying townships—propane from a local supplier is the standard route, either with an existing tank or a new one installed alongside the fireplace. Most gas fireplace models can be set up for either fuel; your installer configures the correct orifice and regulator.

Most will, which matters in a county that sees its share of winter ice storms and downed lines. Units with intermittent pilot ignition (IPI) run off small onboard batteries that kick in automatically when the power drops, so the fireplace still lights on demand. Valor's gas fireplaces take a different approach—they generate their own electricity from the pilot's thermocouple, so there's no battery to remember to replace. For a St. Croix County home where an outage might stretch overnight in January, that's worth asking your local dealer about specifically.

A gas fireplace is a fully built-in unit framed into a wall, typical for new construction or larger remodels in the newer subdivisions around New Richmond and River Falls. A gas insert slides into an existing masonry fireplace opening, turning an old wood-burning hearth into a sealed, efficient gas unit that vents through the existing chimney. A gas stove is a freestanding cabinet-style unit that sits on the floor like a wood stove but burns gas—a good option if you don't have an existing fireplace and don't want to frame one in. For most county homes with an older fireplace already in place, an insert is the simplest upgrade.

Yes. New gas fireplace installations require both a building permit and a gas line permit, whether you're inside Hudson, New Richmond, or River Falls city limits (permits go through the municipal building department) or out in unincorporated St. Croix County (through the county building inspection office). The gas line connection specifically has to be done by a licensed gas fitter. Most established hearth dealers coordinate all of this—permitting, gas line work, and inspection—as part of the installation, so you're not left managing multiple trades yourself.

Vented gas fireplaces—direct-vent or B-vent—pull combustion air from outside and exhaust the byproducts back outside through a sealed vent. Vent-free (ventless) units burn gas directly into the room with no outside venting at all. Wisconsin permits vent-free units under specific room-sizing and ventilation rules, but for a St. Croix County home dealing with genuinely cold, tightly sealed winters, direct-vent units are the far more common and generally recommended choice—they deliver strong heat output without introducing combustion byproducts into indoor air that's already limited on fresh-air exchange during the coldest months.

Plan on an annual inspection, ideally in late summer or early fall before the county's heating season really kicks in. A technician checks the burner, pilot assembly, venting, and gas connections, and cleans the glass and interior. It's a lighter lift than chimney sweeping for a wood stove, but just as important—most local gas service providers charge somewhere in the $150 to $250 range for a standard annual visit.

Wood is still a strong option in St. Croix County—local woodlots produce plenty of oak, maple, birch, and aspen, and a wood stove or insert keeps running with zero electricity during an outage, which matters through a Wisconsin winter. Gas trades that off for convenience: no hauling wood, no ash, instant on-off heat, and a cleaner look, which is a big part of why gas has become the default choice for daily use in the newer homes around New Richmond and River Falls. A lot of county households end up running both—gas in the main living space for everyday comfort, wood elsewhere for backup heat when the power's out.

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.

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.

For an average home—covering the fireplace, the vent pipe, and basic installation—a budget between $3,900 and $5,500 gives you a lot of options across wood, gas, and pellet. By the time you add finish work, gas line, and electrical, the average complete installation lands between $5,000 and $12,000 all-in. In a remodel or new build, a good rule is to put about 2.5% of the total project cost toward the fireplace.

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.