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Almost everyone who calls about converting a fireplace starts in the same place: the fireplace is never used, hauling firewood in a humid climate has lost its appeal, and something that lights with a switch sounds better. From there the question is which conversion, and that is decided by the building, not by preference.
The four routes, side by side
| Route | What is installed | Chimney work | Heat output | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gas log set | Burner, pan and ceramic logs in your existing firebox | Flue must be sound and clear; damper locked open for a vented set | Low — most heat goes up the flue | Look and ambience, occasional use |
| Gas insert | A sealed unit slid into the fireplace opening | A liner runs the full flue length | High — a sealed unit puts heat into the room | Real heat from an existing masonry fireplace |
| Built-in gas fireplace | The old firebox comes out; a new appliance and vent go in | New venting, often direct-vent through a wall | High and controllable | Remodels, new wall positions, modern linear looks |
| Electric | An electric firebox or insert in the opening | None — the flue is sealed off instead | Low, and it is resistance heat | No gas available, condos, rentals, HOA restrictions |
The detail for each is on its own page: fitting a gas log set, fitting a gas insert, installing a built-in gas unit and electric fireplace work. This page is about getting you to the right one.
What has to be checked first
A conversion is one of the few fireplace jobs where the inspection genuinely comes before the quote. Converting a chimney that turns out to be unlined, cracked or blocked means paying twice.
Established before a route is recommended
- Masonry fireplace or factory-built unit — the rating plate decides what may be fitted
- Firebox dimensions at the front, back and opening
- Flue size, material and condition along its full length
- Whether the damper can be locked open, or has to be for a vented appliance
- Smoke chamber and throat condition, since a gas insert liner has to pass through them
- Gas availability: existing line, capped stub, or nothing at all
- Natural gas or propane, and the supply pressure available
- Power at the fireplace, needed for electronic ignition, a blower or an electric unit
- Hearth extension and clearances to a combustible mantel or surround
- HOA or condo rules, which in parts of Central Florida restrict what may be fitted
Where the flue's condition is the open question, a camera inspection answers it properly rather than by assumption. That matters most before an insert, because the liner has to physically pass down the flue.
A chimney that has sat unused is not a clean slate
A flue nobody has looked into for a decade tends to hold nesting material, debris and sometimes a fallen tile. Converting to gas does not make that irrelevant: a vented log set and a gas insert both depend on the chimney working. The flue gets swept and checked as part of the conversion, not skipped because there will be no more wood smoke.
Choosing between the gas routes
What people actually want, and what fits it
01“I just want it to look like a fire”
- What you may notice
- The fireplace is decorative. It will run on a handful of evenings between December and February.
- How it’s confirmed
- A vented log set in the existing firebox. Lowest cost, least disruption, closest to the look of a wood fire.
02“I want the room to actually get warm”
- What you may notice
- You want to heat a living room on cold mornings rather than watch flames.
- How it’s confirmed
- A gas insert with a liner. A sealed unit keeps the heat in the room instead of sending it up the chimney.
03“I want a modern linear fireplace”
- What you may notice
- A wide, low glass opening set into a tiled or panelled wall, usually as part of a remodel.
- How it’s confirmed
- A built-in direct-vent appliance. The existing firebox comes out and the new unit vents through a wall or roof.
04“There is no gas on my street”
- What you may notice
- No meter, and no tank on the property.
- How it’s confirmed
- Either propane with a tank, or electric. Which makes sense depends on how much you will use it and whether a tank can be sited.
05“The chimney itself is in poor shape”
- What you may notice
- A camera scan or inspection has found cracked tiles, an unlined flue or a failed factory-built system.
- How it’s confirmed
- Either reline as part of the conversion, or go direct-vent and stop using the old flue. The second is often cheaper on a badly damaged chimney.
06“I rent it out, or the HOA has rules”
- What you may notice
- A short-term rental, a condo, or a community with written restrictions.
- How it’s confirmed
- Electric removes the fuel question entirely and is the usual answer where gas is not permitted. Check the rules before buying anything.
The gas supply question
Roughly half the conversions we are asked about need gas brought to the fireplace, because open wood fireplaces were rarely built with a supply. That work is a job in its own right and is covered on our page about getting gas to the fireplace.
One thing worth deciding early: size the line for what you might eventually want, not only for what you are fitting now. A line sized for a log set will starve an insert later, and revisiting the pipe run after the wall has been finished is the expensive way to find that out.
Converting the other way
Not every conversion is wood to gas, though that is the great majority in Central Florida.
- Gas back to wood. Occasionally asked for in older homes. It means removing the gas appliance, capping the supply properly and proving the flue is fit for solid fuel — which is a higher bar than it was for gas. Frequently the chimney is the reason it will not work.
- Gas to electric. Common in condos and rentals where the gas appliance has failed and replacing it is not worth it. The supply is capped and the opening takes an electric unit.
- Wood to electric. The simplest route when there is no gas and no appetite for a tank. The flue is sealed and the chimney still needs a cap so it does not become a rainwater channel.
- Open wood firebox to a wood insert. Not a fuel conversion, but the same decision structure: a sealed appliance with a liner, far more efficient than an open fire. Rare here, given the climate.
Sealing a flue is not the same as forgetting it
When a chimney stops being used, it still sits out in the weather. It needs a cap, sound flashing and a crown that sheds water, or it quietly turns into a leak path into the wall. An unused chimney with a failed crown causes just as much damage as a used one.
What conversion day looks like
Assess and decide
Firebox, flue, gas availability and power, measured and checked. The route is agreed with you at this point, before anything is ordered.
Free estimate for the route you choose
Quoted per route, so you can see what a log set costs against an insert rather than being handed one number.
Clean the system
A full sweep of the firebox and flue. Years of creosote above a burner that will now run for hours is not something to leave in place.
Any chimney repairs first
Liner, crown, cap or damper work happens before the appliance goes in. Doing it afterwards means taking the new unit back out.
Gas or power to the fireplace
The line is run, valved and pressure tested, or the circuit is confirmed for an electric unit.
Fit and commission
Appliance installed, connections leak-checked, the unit run through a full cycle and watched, and the controls and shut-off shown to you.
Conversions in Central Florida homes
Two local patterns shape most of these jobs. The first is the factory-built fireplace fitted through the 1980s and 1990s in tract housing across Orange, Seminole and Osceola counties: a metal firebox with refractory panels in a framed chase. Those units are listed for specific appliances, and plenty are now beyond the point where a conversion makes sense — prefab fireplace replacement covers that case.
The second is usage. A Central Florida fireplace might run a dozen times a year. That genuinely changes the maths: an insert that would pay for itself in heating savings up north will not here, which is why the log set is the most common conversion in this market and why it is worth being honest about before anyone spends on something larger.
Conversions are carried out across Orlando, Winter Park, Lake Nona, Kissimmee, Oviedo, Clermont and the rest of the service area. Estimates are free and cover each viable route, not just one.
References (2)
Facts and figures on this page come from these references.
