
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, November 25, 1994                   TAG: 9412070015
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CLAUDINE WILLIAMS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

TOASTY VISIONS IN EVERY HEAD

Last year's power outages taught people a lesson, and many are asking for vent-free gas logs. While standard gas logs can keep a room toasty, vent-free models can warm a medium-sized home when a power outage shuts off regular sources of heat.

Sales of vent-free logs have risen about 80 percent this fall, said Robert Furrow, assistant manager of The Fireplace Shop in Roanoke. The store has tripled its stock.

But Appalachian Power Co, also is preparing for winter; it is spending $20 million more in 1994 than in 1993 to improve lines and transformers. Workers are replacing and adding conductors and increasing transformer capacity at some substations.

by CNB