Frequently Asked Questions About Fireplaces, Stoves, and Service

It depends on the unit, the venting, and the finish work, which is exactly why every model on this site carries an instant estimate. Answer a few questions about your space and you'll see a real ballpark for the whole installed project, not just the box. Financing is available if you'd rather spread it out.

Start with what you want from the fire. Gas is the easiest to live with and heats without power. Wood is the most independent and the most work. Pellet gives you thermostat heat from bagged fuel. Electric goes anywhere but is ambiance first. The in-home inspection settles the rest.

A wood stove or wood insert, yes, always. Gas depends on the ignition: a standing-pilot unit lights and runs with the grid down, and many electronic-ignition models do the same on a battery backup. Pellet units need that backup too, to keep the auger and the blower going. Electric fireplaces are out with the grid. If outage heat is the point, say so early and we'll steer you to the units that do it.

Yes. We sell and install Design Specialties fireplace doors, custom-built to your fireplace's measurements. Pick a style, and we'll measure and quote it.

Green Mountain Grills and Louisiana Grills pellet grills, the Kamado, and fire pits. No gas grills. See them on the showroom floor, or ask us on the outdoor page.

Yes. Financing is available through Synchrony, and the application takes a few minutes online. Details are on the financing page.

Our own in-house installers. Gas line, electrical, and venting are all taken care of by our team as part of your fireplace installation.

We come to your home and measure the space, then confirm the details of your project so none of them get missed. It happens before anything is ordered, which is how you avoid finding out on installation day that the unit doesn't fit.

Sometimes. Permit rules are set by your municipality, and what a project needs also depends on the unit and the venting it takes, so the answer at your address is not the same as the answer two towns over. Raise it at the in-home inspection and we'll go through what applies before anything is ordered.

It depends on the work. Swapping an insert or setting a freestanding stove is a far shorter job than building a new fireplace into a wall with framing and finish work. You get the real timeline at the in-home inspection, before anything is ordered.

We gladly service any brand of stove or fireplace we feature. If yours is a brand we don't carry, call and ask. We'll tell you honestly whether we can get the parts.

Once a year, per the manufacturer. We do most annual maintenance between April and August, when the schedule is open and the unit isn't needed.

No. We no longer have a chimney sweep on staff, so we refer that work out. We service the appliance itself: the fireplace, the insert, or the stove.

Almost certainly. It's usually the thermocouple or thermopile in the pilot assembly, a routine part. Send a repair request with the symptom and we'll schedule the visit.

Yes. The East Syracuse showroom has displays burning, and there's no substitute for standing in front of the real thing. Bring your measurements or a photo of the room and we'll narrow it down together.

6701 Manlius Center Road in East Syracuse. Monday through Friday 9am to 5pm, Saturday 9am to 2pm, closed Sunday. Call (315) 434-9839 if you're coming from a distance and want to be sure a particular display is burning.

Measurements of the opening or the wall if you have them, and a photo or two of the room on your phone. That plus a sense of what you want the fire to do — heat the room, look good, keep working in an outage — is enough for us to narrow it down with you.