Fireplace help for Houston-area homes

Last updated October 26, 2026 · Reviewed by the Fireplace Helpline tech team

Gas emergency numbers in the Houston area

• CenterPoint Energy (Houston-area gas): 713-659-2111 or 888-876-5786, or 911. CenterPoint says to leave your home immediately, go to a safe location, and call 911 and then its natural gas Leak Emergency Hotline. Don't use a cell phone or other electronic devices near the leak.

If your gas bill comes from a different company, use the emergency number on your bill.

How Fireplace Helpline works in the Houston area

We're a video service, not a local shop, and we don't have an office in the Houston area. You book a call, point your phone at the fireplace, and a real fireplace tech guides you by voice. Many problems can be diagnosed, and often fixed, in one call. If yours needs hands-on work, tell us your ZIP code and we'll help you find a local pro.

Flat prices, shown before you book: Quick Fix $49 · Full Diagnostic $89 · Priority Fix $139.

Mostly electric heat, gas for the fireplace

51% of Texas homes heat mainly with electricity and 42% with natural gas (EIA, 2020). In Houston that often means an electric heat pump does the real heating while a gas log set or decorative gas fireplace runs a few evenings a year, so a pilot that won't light or a remote with dead batteries is a common first-cold-front problem. Up in North Texas, gas comes from different utilities; see Dallas-Fort Worth.

After a flood, don't relight it yourself

CenterPoint Energy warns that floodwater can carry silt and mud into gas regulators, valves and pilot assemblies, clogging safety mechanisms and burners in ways you can't see, and can shift appliances enough to stress gas piping. It says never to restart gas equipment yourself after flooding: if any gas equipment was under water, don't use it until a licensed plumber or contractor inspects it, and if water covered your gas meter, contact CenterPoint before using your gas. That includes a gas fireplace or log set. A video call can't clear a flooded unit, but we'll help you find a local pro.

Propane fireplace in the Houston area?

If your fireplace runs on propane (a tank or cylinders outside and a propane company that delivers, rather than a utility gas meter), the utility numbers above aren't your first call. Smell gas? Get out, then call your propane supplier, or 911, from outside. In Texas, 2% of homes heat mainly with propane (EIA, 2020).

Propane fireplaces have a few problems of their own: a low or empty tank, a fireplace that won't light after a refill, and a regulator buried in snow or ice. The propane industry's safety guide says that if your tank runs out, your propane supplier or a qualified pro should leak-check the system before the gas goes back on. Our guide covers the safe checks: propane fireplace won't light or stay lit.

Electric fireplaces in Houston homes

In a Houston living room, an electric fireplace or insert is often there for the glow more than the heat, and we help with those by video too. A tech goes through the safe checks with you: the unit plugged straight into a working wall outlet (no extension cord or power strip), the breaker or GFCI not tripped, fresh remote batteries, and the maker's reset after a cool-down if it shut itself off. If the unit got wet in a flood, don't plug it in or switch it on; have it checked first. We'll never ask you to open the unit or touch wiring. See electric fireplace won't turn on.

Houston fireplace not working? Start here

• Pilot won't light: Clicking but no flame, or no spark at all. The usual causes, in order.
• Pilot lights, then goes out: It lights, but won't stay lit. Usually the flame isn't heating the sensor enough.
• Pilot is lit, burner won't come on: The pilot's burning but the main flame never comes up.
• Propane fireplace won't light: Low tank, a recent run-out or refill, or a regulator under snow. Safe checks first.
• Electric fireplace won't turn on: No power, no heat, or it shut itself off. The safe checks manufacturers list, in order.
• Remote not working: Batteries, switch position, then re-pairing. Steps from the manufacturers.
• Proflame 2 blinking red light: One, two or three red blinks on the control module. What each one means and what to do first.
• Need a replacement part? Send us your model and serial, and a tech matches the exact gas, propane or electric fireplace part.

Common questions

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