Electric Fireplaces

How to choose an electric fireplace

Start with how it mounts

Because there is no venting to plan, mounting is the decision that shapes everything else. A wall-mount unit hangs on the surface and needs nothing but a bracket and a nearby outlet, which makes it the only realistic option in a rental and the fastest in any room. A built-in wants a framed opening and finishing work, and pays you back with a flush, architectural result that looks like it was always there. A firebox or insert is for a masonry fireplace you have stopped using: the electric unit slides into the opening and the mantel stays. Freestanding units simply sit on the floor and can move with you.

Know what 1,500 watts actually does

This is where electric fireplaces disappoint people, and it is entirely avoidable. Electric heat is capped by the circuit, not by the size of the fireplace — an 88" unit and a 30" unit on the same 120V supply put out the same heat.

For comparison, a gas fireplace typically produces 20,000 to 60,000 BTU. If you need that kind of output, buy gas. If you want a fireplace in a room that can never have a flue, electric is the only thing that works.

Plug-in or hardwired

A 1,500W heater draws around 12.5 amps, which is most of a 15-amp circuit on its own. Manufacturers call for a dedicated circuit for that reason, and sharing one with a television wall or a kitchen counter is how breakers start tripping in February. Plug-in models are genuinely plug-in, but plan the outlet. Larger and multi-sided units are often hardwired, so budget for an electrician even though there is no gas fitter and no vent.

Indoor, or rated for outside

Outdoor rating is not a formality. A unit rated indoor-only will fail in a covered outdoor room, because humidity and temperature swings reach the electronics. Amantii and Remii build much of the indoor/outdoor range here, and those models are designed for a covered patio or a screened porch — covered, not exposed to direct rain.

Flame technology is what separates the price tiers

At the accessible end, LED flame projection with adjustable colour and speed does a convincing job behind glass, especially in a linear format. Above that, Dimplex's Optimyst range uses ultrasonic water vapour lit from below, which produces actual three-dimensional smoke and flame you can put your hand through. Ortal's holographic models project depth into the firebox. These are genuinely different things to look at, and the difference is far more visible in person than in a product photo — worth knowing before you choose on specification alone.

Sizing the opening

Electric units are shallow, which is most of their appeal: many need only a few inches of wall depth where a gas firebox needs twenty or more. That does not make the framing optional. Every built-in model specifies a rough opening and a minimum depth, and trim and glass surrounds change the finished dimensions. Pull the numbers from the installation manual for the exact model and size before framing, and confirm where the power has to arrive, because the wiring entry point is rarely in the middle.

Electric fireplace FAQs

Does an electric fireplace need a vent or a chimney?

No. Nothing is burned, so there are no combustion byproducts to remove and no vent, flue, liner or gas line of any kind. That is the whole reason electric fireplaces can go on interior walls, in bedrooms, in basements and in condos where venting is impossible or not permitted. The only requirement is electricity.

How much heat does an electric fireplace actually produce?

A 1,500 watt heater on a standard 120V circuit produces about 5,100 BTU, which will take the chill off a room but will not heat a house. The size of the fireplace makes no difference to this — an 88 inch model and a 30 inch model on the same circuit put out the same heat, because the limit is the wiring. Models with a 240V or dual-heater option roughly double it. For genuine heating capacity, a gas fireplace starting around 20,000 BTU is the right product.

Can I plug an electric fireplace into a normal outlet?

Usually yes, but it should have a circuit to itself. A 1,500 watt heater pulls about 12.5 amps, which is most of a 15 amp circuit, so sharing it with a media wall or kitchen counter risks nuisance breaker trips once the heater runs continuously. Larger and multi-sided models are often hardwired instead, so check the model before you assume it plugs in.

Are electric fireplaces expensive to run?

With the heater on full, a 1,500 watt unit uses 1.5 kilowatt-hours an hour, which is roughly 25 cents at typical US residential rates. Run with the flame only and no heat — how most people use them most of the year — the draw falls to a few tens of watts, or a fraction of a cent an hour. The running cost question usually turns out to be about the heater, not the fireplace.

Can an electric fireplace be installed outdoors?

Only if the model is specifically rated for it, and then only in a covered space. An indoor-rated unit will eventually fail outside because humidity and temperature swings reach electronics that were never sealed against them. Forty of the models here are rated for indoor and outdoor use, mostly from Amantii and Remii, and those are intended for a covered patio or screened porch rather than open weather.

Do electric fireplaces look realistic?

It depends entirely on the flame technology, which is what you are paying for as prices rise. LED projection behind glass is convincing in a linear format and less so when it is imitating logs. Water-vapour systems such as Dimplex Optimyst generate real three-dimensional mist lit from below and are the closest thing to a live flame without combustion. The gap between tiers is much more obvious in person than in photographs, so judge from video or a showroom rather than a still image.

Related collections

• Wall mounted electric fireplaces
• Built-in electric fireplaces
• Electric fireplace inserts
• See-through electric fireplaces
• Outdoor electric fireplaces
• Electric log sets
• Gas fireplaces