In my personal opinion, purchasing anything that will burn inside the home should be purchased through a local company/dealer.

If there are problems, the local dealer can solve them. They have professional installers that will install the unit to all codes. The homeowner's insurance companies like that. If not professionally installed, red flags go up all over the place in the insurance office. And if they aren't notified that you have a new fireplace, and something happens, you may not be covered.

Is it worth the few bucks you'll save?

The installation is very straightforward and will be checked by a county building inspector. If I donÂt have time I can always hire someone. Even with shipping, the total costs are substantially lower than the local dealers would charge. NOTE: The local dealers and our county planning department allow self-installation.

I bought what seems to be a good quality gas FP insert online, and installed it myself with not much trouble. Saved about $1,000. Not sure if that counts as just "a few bucks."

The install manual was well-written, and I can read and follow directions, so I'm confident I did at least as good a job as an installation company would have done. If you can run a gas line, and read your codes, there's no reason a halfway handy person can't do it.