A fireplace and stove dispatcher runs the install crews' day: who goes where, with which unit, gear and helpers. They confirm the chimney, gas and power work each install depends on, warn customers before a crew runs late, and keep each job's status current until the startup is done.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, other building equipment contractors · BLS, May 2025
Serve as the central point of contact, coordinating and dispatching installation crews to ensure timely, efficient, and safe fireplace and stove installations that meet customer expectations and company standards.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Assign installation crews to scheduled jobs based on skill set and location.
Manage daily schedules and ensure crews are dispatched promptly.
Monitor job progress and address scheduling conflicts or delays.
Communicate any issues or updates between the field and management in a timely manner.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Review daily service orders and update dispatch schedules.
Coordinate with installation crews to confirm job details and customer requirements.
Provide real-time support for troubleshooting logistical challenges.
Update job tracking systems with status reports and completion confirmations.
Maintain ongoing communication with customers regarding estimated arrival times and any delays.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
On-Time Dispatch Rate: 98%.
Job Completion Accuracy: 95%.
Customer Satisfaction Rating: >4.8 stars.
Average Response Time: <30 minutes.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
High school diploma or equivalent; additional technical training or certification is a plus.
Minimum of 2 years’ experience in a dispatch or scheduling role, preferably within home services.
Proficient in using dispatch and scheduling software.
Excellent communication and problem-solving skills.
Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
6. Preferred Experience
Previous experience in the fireplace, stove installation, or home services industry.
Familiarity with routing and navigation tools.
Experience working in a fast-paced, customer-focused environment.
Demonstrated ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to sit or stand for extended periods while performing dispatch duties.
Occasional lifting of files or equipment up to 20 lbs.
Comfortable working in an office environment with periodic exposure to field conditions.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Office-based with periodic coordination visits to field sites.
Typical work hours: Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM.
Occasional after-hours support may be required during high-demand periods.
Minimal travel to installation sites as needed.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Hourly rate range: $18-$25 per hour, based on experience.
Performance bonuses available based on key KPIs.
Health, Dental, and Vision insurance provided.
401k retirement plan with company match.
Paid time off and opportunities for professional development.
10. Company Culture and Overview
We foster a collaborative and supportive work environment where every team member’s contributions are valued.
Our commitment to excellence encourages continuous learning and career advancement.
We pride ourselves on delivering high-quality service and building lasting customer relationships.
Join us to be part of a forward-thinking company where innovation and customer satisfaction are top priorities.
11. How to Apply
If you meet the above criteria and want to be part of a growth-oriented company focused on customer satisfaction, please send your resume to [INSERT EMAIL HERE] or apply online at [INSERT WEBSITE LINK HERE].
Need help filling this role? HireBus posts the ad, Iris interviews every applicant by phone before you do, and you decide who to hire. Start hiring now
What a hearth dispatcher checks before a crew rolls
A fireplace install depends on more than a crew and an address. The chimney, the gas, the power and the unit's weight all have to line up, and someone has to be home for the first fire.
An insert starts with the chimney
Before an insert goes in, someone has to check the old chimney it will vent through. CSIA recommends a Level 2 inspection, which includes a video scan of the inside of the flue, when a new appliance is added or swapped for one with a different fuel or type. Book that inspection and any sweep, by your own sweep or a partner, well before install day. Put the insert on a crew's day only once the report clears the flue and gives the flue size the new unit needs. Source: CSIA standard operating procedure: Level 2 inspection of a masonry chimney.
The unit's weight decides who goes
HearthStone lists its Manchester wood stove at 520 pounds, and cast iron and soapstone stoves like it go in on a stair climber or with extra hands. Before the day is built, check each unit's weight on its spec sheet and the path into the house: front steps, a narrow door, a basement stair. Then send enough people and the right gear, and never book the one stair climber on two jobs at the same hour. Source: HearthStone: Manchester wood stove specifications.
Other trades get a call the day before
Many installs can't start up until an outside trade or fuel supplier, picked by the COO, has done its part. The afternoon before, call each one or check their photos. If any work isn't done, the crew can still set the unit and venting, but the startup moves to a second visit. Tell the customer before the crew pulls into the driveway.
The homeowner has to be there at the end
An install ends with a startup and a walk-through: how to light the unit, use the remote and care for the glass. Give each customer two times, when the crew arrives and about when someone needs to be home for that lesson. If a job will run into a second day, the lead installer tells dispatch by midday, and the customer hears it from dispatch before the crew packs up.
How much fireplace and stove dispatchers make
Dispatchers who work for other building equipment contractors earned a median of $27.07 an hour ($56,300 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s above the $50,340 median for dispatchers in all industries. About 570 of the 202,810 dispatchers in that survey work for other building equipment contractors.
Hourly, with the template's KPI bonuses on top. The template's hourly range tops out under the typical BLS figure for dispatchers at these contractors, so price the job against local postings. Weight the bonus toward installs that start up on their booked day, which rewards a well-prepared day more than quick replies.
Other building equipment contractors
$56,300$56,300 median Middle half $46,690–$63,590 10th–90th $37,220–$77,500
All industries
$50,340$50,340 median Middle half $42,750–$62,450 10th–90th $36,030–$78,140
$30k$40k$50k$60k$70k$80k$90k
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Other building equipment contractors
$37,220
$46,690
$56,300
$63,590
$77,500
All industries
$36,030
$42,750
$50,340
$62,450
$78,140
BLS doesn’t publish pay for fireplace and stove installers on their own. These figures cover other building equipment contractors, which include them. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
The pay line in the template above is an example from our Role Blueprint. Set yours from these figures and what local companies pay.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Won't build a day around a ticket missing the fuel, vent route, unit weight or way in
Gets a straight yes or no from each outside trade the day before
Splits a job into set-and-vent now, startup later, when gas or power isn't ready
Tells each customer when the crew arrives and when to be home for the startup lesson
Keeps the one stair climber and the heavy-stove crews from being double-booked
Teach these on the job
Each install type and how long it runs: inserts, freestanding stoves, built-ins
Your stair climber, dollies and truck setups
Which outside trades, sweeps and fuel dealers each job relies on
The status codes in your field app and what each one means
Your startup and walk-through checklist
Dispatch runs on the field service software's board, with each job's photos, spec sheet and vent plan attached. Truck GPS shows where crews are, and a group text with each crew lead carries changes during the day.
Fireplace and stove dispatcher interview questions
Two of the 6 questions we'd ask, and what a strong answer sounds like. Ask every candidate the same questions, and rate each answer on your own before you compare notes.
Situational · Handling a unit that hasn't arrived
A special-order unit due yesterday hasn't arrived, and the install is tomorrow morning. What do you do?
A strong answer: Confirms with the supplier, calls the customer today with honest options, moves the crew to a ready job and updates the board.
Behavioral · Coordinating outside trades
Tell me about a time you had to line up your crew with an outside trade, like a gas fitter, electrician or mason. How did you keep the timing from falling apart?
A strong answer: Confirmed each trade's date and what had to be done before they came, set the order with inspections in mind, reconfirmed the day before, had a backup plan and kept the customer informed.
A day lost to an unfinished gas line hurts these numbers more than a slow reply. Before setting targets, read last fall's late starts and second visits, and mark which ones a day-before call would have caught.
On-Time Dispatch Rate
Crews that leave the shop on time with the right unit, venting and gear loaded, out of all crew-days. Note what held up each late start: a part, a truck or a helper.
Job Completion Accuracy
Installs closed in the software with startup readings, photos and a signed walk-through attached, out of all installs. A job closed with a blank startup field counts as a miss, even if the unit runs fine.
Customer Satisfaction Rating
Survey scores and comments about arrival times, delay notices and finish times. Read jobs that needed a second startup visit on their own line; they show whether the day-before calls are working.
Average Response Time
Minutes from a crew's call or text about a problem on site to dispatch's answer, and from a customer's change request to a confirmed new time. Read it weekly through the fall.
Can the dispatcher send any free installer to any job?
No. The operations manager's skills grid says who may do roof work, wood stove chimneys and gas startups. The dispatcher picks from those names each day, matching the unit's weight, the stair climber and the part of town. If nobody on the grid is free, the dispatcher doesn't swap in someone who isn't on it; the operations manager moves the date or the crew.
How much does a fireplace and stove dispatcher make?
Dispatchers who work for other building equipment contractors earned a median of $27.07 an hour ($56,300 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $46,690 and $63,590 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and overtime.
What should an install-day confirmation say?
The arrival window, the lead installer's name, and about when someone needs to be home for the startup lesson. Ask the customer to clear a path from the door to the room, keep pets shut away and leave room in the driveway for the truck. On gas jobs, remind them the gas or propane needs to be on. Send it the afternoon before and ask for a reply.
What does a dispatcher do when a crew finds the vent can't go where the plan says?
Route the problem; don't solve it. Get the lead installer on the phone with the crew. The lead picks the fix and writes any change order, and the customer signs it before work goes on. Meanwhile dispatch takes care of everything else on the board: warn the next customer if the crew will be late, and move or hand off work the crew can no longer reach.
Which field trips does the dispatcher template have in mind?
Short ones, with loads inside the template's 20 pounds: running a missing vent elbow, remote or trim kit out to a crew, or carrying boxed parts across the staging bays before the trucks leave. The field conditions it mentions might mean a cold morning at the shop door or a muddy new-home lot where the ticket and the photos disagree. Put those trips, not just the template's wording, in the ad.
