Fireplaces & Stoves

If the headlines have you thinking about readiness, start here. The scenarios worth preparing for in Idaho aren’t exotic — a storm, an outage, a week of hard cold — and the best preparation makes your home more comfortable every day. Heat that works without the grid, cooking off-grid, the 400 gallons of water you already own, and a calm checklist for this month.

Ask anyone who's lived with a soapstone stove and they'll tell you the heat is different — steady, gentle, and still coming hours after the fire burns down. Here's a dealer's guide to HearthStone, the Vermont brand behind it: its story since 1978, soapstone and TruHybrid explained, the full lineup, and which model fits your home.

Most wood stoves look like wood stoves. Stûv doesn't — a cylinder that rotates toward the couch, a wall of fire you can open like a window. Here's a dealer's guide to the Belgian-designed, Québec-built brand: its story, what sets it apart, the full lineup, and which model fits your home.

Kozy Heat is the fireplace brand people don't recognize — and then can't stop looking at. Built by the same Minnesota family for 50 years, it makes the most realistic gas fire in its class. Here's a dealer's guide to the brand's story, what sets it apart, the full lineup, and which model is right for you.

The Heat & Glo Mezzo is the linear gas fireplace you've seen in design magazines — a clean ribbon of flame behind black glass, flush to the wall. Here's a dealer's honest look at its four sizes, the heat management that lets you mount a TV above it, IntelliFire controls, battery backup for Idaho winters, and what installation involves.

A fireplace is the heart of a mountain home — but mountain living brings cold, outages, high altitude, and big open rooms. Here's how to choose between wood, gas, pellet, and electric, and get the heat, safety, and scale right.

Adding a fireplace or wood stove in Idaho? What's required depends on where you live and what you install. This guide covers gas vs. solid-fuel permits, EPA certification, clearances, chimney code, and Idaho's air-quality rules — by jurisdiction.

If you want a better fireplace, you have two fundamentally different paths: drop an insert into an existing fireplace, or install a brand-new unit. They sound similar, but they solve different problems, cost different amounts, and suit different homes — and the right choice usually comes down to one question: do you already have a usable fireplace opening? This guide breaks down both options across cost, efficiency, placement, and installation, with clear "choose this if" guidance. You'll learn why both crush an open masonry hearth on efficiency (10–20% vs. 70–90%), when an insert is the smart, cost-effective upgrade, and when a new built-in fireplace's placement freedom is worth the extra investment.

Before you can enjoy a fireplace, you have to make the first big decision: gas, wood, or pellet? Each fuel type has real strengths and real trade-offs, and the right choice depends on how you'll use it, what heat you want, how much maintenance you'll do, and what fuel is available where you live. This Idaho buyer's guide compares all three side by side — efficiency, upfront and fuel costs, heat output, power-outage performance, and maintenance — then walks through Idaho-specific factors like climate, burn regulations, and fuel availability. Includes a clear decision framework and the brands to look for: Kozy Heat, Heatilator, Heat & Glo, Valor, and Stûv.

Thinking about a pellet stove for an Idaho winter? This buyer's guide covers how they work, how they compare to wood and gas, sizing for cold climates, what features matter, installation, costs, and Idaho's state tax deduction — so you can choose with confidence.

Fireplaces have long been cherished as focal points in homes, offering not only aesthetic charm but also functional warmth. However, many homeowners may underestimate the fireplace's potential as a primary heating source for their entire house. In this blog, we'll explore the mechanisms behind how a fireplace can effectively heat a home, providing both comfort and efficiency during colder months.