Electric Fireplaces

Electric fireplaces are the latest version of one of humanity's oldest discoveries--fire. When early man mastered fire, life as it was known changed: they huddled around it for warmth and to cook, and it has been a psychological foundation of our culture ever since. The next time you go to a party, notice where people congregate: around the warmth of a fire or stove.

We have evolved greatly since then, and so has the role and technology of fire. Kitchen stoves were popular for many generations, as they provided the same heat and cooking abilities as the cave dwellers' fires. But then modern stoves were invented, and the fire moved from kitchens into fireplaces in living rooms. Coal, wood, and gas created the familiar flames of our predecessors--plus all the toxins, soot, and ash.

Electric Fireplaces Make Others Obsolete

We have since mastered electricity, and now electric fireplaces are the most advanced. For one thing, electric fireplaces don't require a ventilation system the way traditional fireplaces do. Since there are no fumes, there is nothing to vent--and this frees them up to be portable. You can use electric fireplaces anywhere you can plug into the wall.

A portable fireplace comes in handy on trips to college, cold rooms in the back of the house, or whenever a guest uses the spare room. All you need is a standard 120-volt outlet, and all the comfort of a flickering fire is at your beck and call. And don't worry about falling asleep while the fire is still burning--they won't ever spit a fiery ember on the floor.

Electric Fireplaces Are Fireless

The "flames" you see in an electric fireplace aren't flames at all, but a randomly scattered show of refracted light and some colored bulbs--looks real, doesn't it? In fact, Dimplex, the company that produced the first realistic "wood-burning" flame effect in 1997, has been granted 19 patents for various electric flame technologies. The lifelike logs are careful recreations, too.

While electric fireplaces fool the eye, they can play with your other senses, too. Because they run on electricity, it's simple to control the amount of heat they give off--you can have them crank out more than 5000 BTUs of heat, or none at all. Just turn it up or down, like the setting on a toaster.

In fact, the heat output of electric fireplaces is much more efficient than wood-burning or gas-burning ones. One hundred percent of the energy of an electric model stays in the room, but those that require combustion lose a lot of heat when they're burning. When you vent out the smoke and fumes, most of the heat--and your heating bill--goes through the roof.

No More Messes When You Go Electric

Electric fireplaces are much easier to maintain, too. You'll never have to haul in cords of wood (check for spiders!), scoop out ashes (hold your breath), or clear out the chimney (where are my goggles?). The only thing you'll have to worry about is changing a light bulb every couple of years or so.