Nobody needs a guide to know that a crackling log fire and a gas flame feel different. The practical questions are narrower. How often will you actually be allowed to light a wood fire in Kirkland? What does each option ask of you every year? And what does it take to switch? This article answers those three, drawing on the regional clean-air agency's ban stages, Census data on how Northshore homes are heated, and the upkeep each type of fireplace requires. It stops short of telling you which to choose: that depends on how you use the room, and whether the smell of wood smoke is the point.
Start with how the fireplace is really used
Very few Kirkland homes depend on wood. Five-year Census figures covering 2020 through 2024 find about 75 households in the city, roughly 0.2 percent, that name wood as their main heating fuel; nearly all the rest heat with gas or electricity. The survey does not count fireplaces, so it understates how many are lit on weekends, but it does tell you that most fireplaces here are about comfort and atmosphere rather than keeping the house warm.
That framing helps. If the fire is for evenings with friends, the questions are reliability and convenience. If it is backup heat for a winter power outage, it matters whether the insert you are considering needs electricity for its ignition or blower.
What burn bans mean for each option
When cold, stagnant air settles over King and Snohomish counties and smoke has nowhere to go, the Clean Air Agency declares a ban. Under a Stage 1 ban, no burning is allowed in wood fireplaces or in uncertified wood stoves and inserts. Under Stage 2, no wood fireplace, stove or insert of any kind may be used, nor a pellet stove. A home that truly has no adequate heat besides wood may request an exemption in advance, and even they must burn without visible smoke.
The agency's own measurements show why bans happen. In 2024, fine-particle levels topped its health goal of 25 micrograms per cubic meter on up to four winter days, and it attributes those days to wood smoke from home heating. Gas appliances are not named in either ban stage.
Side by side
The comparison below assumes an open masonry fireplace on one side and a direct-vent gas insert on the other.
| Question | Open wood fireplace | Direct-vent gas insert |
|---|---|---|
| Usable on a Stage 1 or Stage 2 ban day? | No, unless the home holds an approved exemption | Gas is not named in either ban stage |
| Yearly professional care | Sweep plus Level 1 inspection | Service visit covering burner, glass, pilot and vent |
| Fuel to store | Dry, seasoned wood kept under cover | None; supplied by the gas line |
| Smoke limits that apply | Opacity capped at 20 percent (six-minute test) | Not a solid-fuel device |
| What sits in the chimney | The original masonry flue | A dedicated liner connected to the insert |
Yearly upkeep and the one-time switch
A wood fireplace wants a yearly sweep, and ours, Level 1 check included, is priced at $189 to $459. A gas insert trades that for a service visit, $189 to $479, where the burner, glass seal, pilot assembly and vent termination are checked.
The switch itself is the larger outlay. Beyond the appliance, a direct-vent insert needs a liner running the full chimney height, and our relining grid runs $1,900 to $5,900. It also needs a gas line and, in most Northshore cities, a permit.
Keeping wood? Make it a cleaner fire
If the answer is to stay with wood, the rules reward cleaner equipment. Washington only allows the sale of certified, labeled wood-burning devices, and new wood and pellet stoves must meet EPA limits of 2.0 or 2.5 grams of smoke per hour, depending on the test method. An open masonry fireplace has no emission standard at all, which is why it is the first device a Stage 1 ban shuts off.
The Clean Air Agency also runs a recycling program that pays King and Snohomish County homeowners to retire a working old wood stove or insert that falls short of 2020 EPA standards. Current terms are on the agency's program page.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use a gas insert during a burn ban?
The Clean Air Agency's Stage 1 and Stage 2 rules name wood fireplaces, wood stoves, wood inserts and pellet stoves. Nothing in those ban stages mentions gas, so a gas unit stays usable on still winter evenings when a wood fire is off-limits.
My furnace is expensive to run. Does that let me burn wood during a ban?
No. The agency's exemption covers only homes where wood is the sole adequate heat source, and it has to be granted before the ban. Costly electric or propane heat, or a furnace you cannot afford to repair, does not qualify on its own.
Which one needs more upkeep?
Wood, in most homes. An open fireplace needs a sweep and inspection every year it is used and a steady supply of dry wood. A gas insert still needs a yearly service visit, but there is no ash, no creosote and no woodpile.
Sources
- Census Reporter — ACS heating fuel — accessed September 29, 2026
- PSCAA — About burn bans — accessed September 29, 2026
- PSCAA — Only-heat-source exemption — accessed September 29, 2026
- PSCAA — 2024 data summary — accessed September 29, 2026
- PSCAA — Wood burning and the law — accessed September 29, 2026
- Washington Department of Ecology — Wood stove info — accessed September 29, 2026
- PSCAA — Stove recycling program — accessed September 29, 2026
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