I’ll say the thing that gets me dirty looks in procurement meetings: if you’re approving a gas fireplace based on the lowest number on the bid sheet, you’re not saving money. You’re making a statement about how much quality your company is willing to accept. When heating equipment is visible to clients, quality is not a line item—it’s part of the brand.
Maybe that sounds dramatic. But I’ve been the office administrator responsible for purchasing at a 200-person Midwest company since 2020. I process 60–80 facility orders a year, manage relationships with about eight vendors, and report to both operations and finance. We have three locations—two offices, a training center, and a small showroom—and gas fireplaces in most of the spaces where visitors wait or meet. They have to keep people warm, obviously. They also have to make people think, this place has its act together.
If that sounds like overthinking an appliance, consider why companies spend money on the front desk, paint colors, and lighting. A gas fireplace gets the same kind of attention, except people remember whether it felt comfortable. That’s why, after five years of buying and maintaining these units, I keep coming back to Empire Comfort Systems for anything guests actually see.
The first mistake I made: treating a fireplace like a utility box
When I first took over purchasing, I assumed a gas fireplace was basically a firebox with a BTU rating and a piece of glass. I didn’t care much about the brand, as long as the quote was the lowest and the delivery timeframe fit the renovation schedule. I learned that lesson the expensive way.
In early 2021, we installed a budget direct-vent unit in the lobby of our training center. It passed inspection, met the specs on paper, and looked acceptable in the showroom photos. Fourteen months later, in the middle of January, the ignition module stopped responding. No remote start, no heat. The technician told me the part was part of a sealed assembly and the manufacturer no longer stocked it, and the replacement assembly had a five-week backlog. I had to explain to my VP why the “smart” purchase was sitting dark and cold during the busiest training month of the year.
We replaced it with an Empire Comfort Systems gas fireplace—partly because Empire Comfort Systems has been in the gas heating business since 1932, and partly because our HVAC contractor said he could actually get parts for it. The contractor who removed the old unit also had to scrape construction adhesive off the stone surround, which meant another trip and a bottle of adhesive remover before the new install could start. That cleanup alone should have told me how many previous corners had been cut.
After the swap, nobody walked in and said, “Nice Empire fireplace.” But people stopped asking why the lobby was cold and why the gas logs looked fake. That’s the part that doesn’t appear on a purchase order.
The remote matters more than you think
Here’s something I didn’t appreciate until I was the person getting calls from receptionists: the remote is the only part of a gas fireplace your customers actually touch. They don’t inspect the burner or read the venting certificate. They pick up the remote, press ON, and decide whether the fireplace feels like a working amenity or a broken promise.
Cheap remote controls are a hidden trap. When one fails, the dealer often tells you it’s a “factory part” with a three-week wait, or worse, that it’s no longer made and the whole valve needs to be swapped. That turns a $60 annoyance into a $400 repair plus labor. I’ve been there, and I don’t want to go back.
Last year, the remote in one of our older offices stopped pairing with its receiver. Instead of replacing the entire fireplace, we ordered an Empire Comfort Systems remote from a parts distributor. It worked with the existing valve, paired quickly, and our maintenance tech had it running in about twenty minutes. For a person whose job depends on keeping internal clients happy, that kind of routine replacement is worth more than the discount on the original unit.
The support test nobody puts in a spec
Most buyers compare fireplaces the way they compare toaster ovens—by price, size, and heat output. They never test what happens when they call support.
In 2024, our company started a vendor consolidation project across all three locations. That meant I spent a lot of time on the phone with manufacturers and distributors, asking basic questions like, “Which remote goes with model X?” and “Do you have a wiring diagram for the blower?” The quality of the answers varied wildly.
Empire’s support people did not make me feel stupid, and they didn’t read from a troubleshooting script. When I gave them the model and serial number, they came back with the right part number, confirmed compatibility, and sent the documentation I needed for our files. That may not sound like a big deal, but for an administrator who reports to finance, documentation is everything. If a vendor can’t produce a proper invoice or a clear spec sheet, I can’t produce a proper expense report.
Granted, I’m sure some distributors treat this as a minor courtesy. But when I add up the hours I’ve spent chasing parts for other brands, support quality has a real dollar value. It’s just never written on the quote.
When I would spec something different
To be fair, I wouldn’t put a premium gas fireplace in a storage room or a utility corridor. If heat is all that matters and nobody will ever look at the unit, buy whatever meets code and budget, and maintain it properly. I’m not saying every purchase should be the top-tier option.
What I am saying is this: the decision isn’t only about BTUs and price. It’s about where the appliance sits and what it signals to the person standing next to it. In a lobby or a client-facing showroom, saving $600 on a lesser fireplace is a bad trade if it means cold complaints, cloudy glass, sluggish ignition, or a remote nobody can replace. The company’s image is part of the product.
I’ve made the price-based mistake once, and I won’t repeat it. When I walk into a building with an Empire Comfort Systems gas fireplace that lights cleanly, holds its flame, and has a remote that just works, I assume someone in that building paid attention. That is exactly the message your visitors should be getting about your company.
(If you found this post while searching for a Magic John screen protector or how to fix sound not working windows, I can’t help with those—but I hope you find the answer. For Empire Comfort Systems owners, the short version is: buy from a manufacturer that will still support the product in five years.)
