“Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful.”

The holiday lyrics ring true this season as more and more people spend time inside the house and during the pandemic. A fire burning in the den or living room can help warm up these winter months as people are stuck indoors.

Pat Starcher, owner of Hot Spring Spas & Leisure in Moses Lake, said fireplace sales have been up this year. She said she believes a lot of that is due to people spending more time at home.

“They’re not spending money on movies or dinner or those types of things,” Starcher said, standing next to a fireplace burning in her store Wednesday afternoon. “They’re enjoying this sort of thing more.”

The days of the traditional wood-burning fireplace reigning supreme are in the past, with gas fireplaces and fireplace inserts becoming the vastly more popular selection for people. Starcher said a lot of this is because gas fireplaces require less upkeep and maintenance.

“You just turn it on and it goes off, you don’t do anything,” Starcher said. “There’s more trouble with wood and pellets.”

Wood pellet stoves are still an option for people who might be interested in a classic for heating their home, but they require keeping a stock of pellets that must be kept dry. Wood-burning stoves and fireplaces offer the same challenge, with people needing to find a reliable source for firewood.

With changes in regulations by the Environmental Protection Agency a few years ago, Starcher said a lot of companies that make wood stoves and fireplaces stopped making them this year. The new regulations were too expensive.

For homes without an existing fireplace already, a gas insert is a popular option. Gas fireplaces can include different types of gas, an automatic blower or just radiant heat.

Radiant heat fireplaces and fireplace inserts heat everything in the room, the couches, the chairs, the floor and require little to no electricity. Fireplaces equipped with a blower do require electricity but can help heat a wider area and are great if someone has a bigger home.

Starcher said natural gas is their most popular choice right now. Natural gas is a cheaper option than propane, but not every place in Moses Lake has it available.

“Propane is more expensive than gas, but propane is more efficient also,” Starcher said.

As far as the more popular appearances recently, Starcher said people are going for more of a modern, cleaner look.

In addition to offering the gamut of options, Hot Spring Spas & Leisure also offers upkeep for the units, including chimney cleanings. Starcher recommends wood and pellet stoves and fireplaces be cleaned out more often and the chimney cleaned at least once a year. With gas fireplaces, the chimney won’t need to be cleaned, but the glass panel of the fireplace on both types should be cleaned annually to prevent the glass from pitting.

For people looking to purchase their first fireplace this winter, Starcher said she asks customers how big an area they are looking to heat. Second, she figures out what type of look they’d be interested in.

“A lot of people like the longer fireplace look,” Starcher said. “It is a beautiful look, but the longer the stove or fireplace is, the smaller the flame gets.”

But whether it is a freestanding wood-burning stove or the tall blue flame of a propane insert, adding a fireplace to one’s home could make being cooped up indoors this winter just a bit more manageable.

Casey McCarthy can be reached via email at cmccarthy@columbiabasinherald.com.