Choosing An Electric Fireplace - The 3 Best Products On The Market

The Dimplex DFI2309 - The Best Selling Electric Fireplace In America

My wife and I have been doing a little research into electric fireplaces ever since we moved into our new home. The original structure had a spot for a fire place already carved into the wall, but the previous owner ripped out his fireplace a few years ago because of some chimney repair issues. We weren't thrilled with the proposition of having a gaping hole in the wall, so it was time to look into filling it with something!

While we initially decided to put in a traditional fireplace, we realized that the costs of installation (not to mention chimney maintenance) were going to be prohibitive compared to how often we were realistically going to use it. I've always admired the electric fireplace at my inlaws' house, and it didn't take long to convince my wife that it would be far more practical to get one of these units.

To put it frankly, our research turned up a lot of shoddy looking products. However, thanks to the power of reviews from real users along with other information, we discovered the following three products. Although we ultimately purchased the Dimplex DFI2309, the other two products are just as good. We were able to test out all three units at a local department store, so I'm putting my thoughts next to each one:

The DFI2309 represents a lot of value for a relatively low cost. This is a 1500 watt electric fire place that is meant to slot into any available opening in your home, making it easy to replace an old fireplace if necessary.

The built in fan does a great job of redistributing unevenly built up heat without being noisy. In fact, we've gotten used to the very quiet sound in less than a week of heavy usage (it's cold outside right now!).

Speaking of heat, you can choose to have the Dimplex running at full heat or half heat depending on your temperature needs. If you want to run the fire place as a visually pleasing decorative element without heating up the house, there is a "flame only" mode as well. Initially, I didn't think that I'd want to use the non-heating mode, but it looks so good that I keep it on most of the time when I'm home during the day.

The remote control that comes with the unit does it's job exactly as advertised. If I had one tiny complaint about this product, it's that you can't actually control the heat level remotely. This means that you will have to change the heat setting on the unit itself. Not a big deal at all, but something to keep in mind.

We were immediately impressed by the Bionaire fireplace's realistic look and feel. The BFH5000-UM features a minimalist frame witha warm, inviting glow that just begs to be placed in a living room or bedroom.

In addition to its great looks, this fireplace comes with some practical features as well. The programmable thermostat and 12 hour on/off timer ensure that it won't get TOO warm while still lending a comforting vibe to your surroundings. To cap off the features, the BFH includes "tip over protection," meaning that the unit will automatically turn itself off in order to avoid any accidents.

This 36 inch high fireplace features the largest enclosure of the bunch, so it's the grand daddy of the three products on display here. Needless to say, the beautiful burnished walnut finish will add a touch of class to any space while the 4,910 BTU heater can handle just about any heating job you throw at it. We were blown away by the amount of heat this thing was able to throw out in the department store!

Unique to the CFP is the mantle piece that sits on top of the unit, which means it can accommodate any decorative objects or family photos that you want to put on it. This wasn't much of a selling point for us since we display all of our photos in other parts of the house, but this design is sure to appeal to many.

We found the Dimplex's remote control to be easy to operate. I would have liked to see a thermostat control directly on the remote, but it shouldn't be too hard just to set the thermostate directly on the fireplace and leave it at your favorite setting.