Electric fireplace?

[freeform911]

We are in the middle of a home remodel, which started in the kitchen but has carried through to the common areas of our house.

We have a wood burning fireplace in the living area, but never use it. It's a metal insert. We have been look at options to replace it with something a little more modern. We've looked into gas but really not sold on a $5000 insert, before electrical and gas install( don't have gas so propane hook up and tank).

Curious to know if anyone has an electric fireplace installed. Do they look as corny now as they did back in the day? For the money I'm wordering if it's worth it?

This is more for a more modern look. Heat is not important.

Haven't been able to find a showroom to go and look at anything in person.

Would appreciate an feed back from someone with first hand experience.

TIA
Steve

[Evans, Marv]

Is it that you just don't use that part of the house? If that's the case, maybe you could repurpose that area by replacing it with something else that would draw you into the area - maybe a big fish tank or something else? When I see electric fireplaces, I just think, "Why?"

[dad911]

You should be able to put in a gas insert kit for under $1k. https://gaslogguys.shopperschoice.com/gaslogguys/24-inch-charred-canyon-fire-vented-natural-gas-log-set-w-h-burner?product_id=2987652&merchant_id=3294783&creative=294122431363&target=&placement=&device=c&campaign=1551455276&adgroup=57738977663&source=google&medium=cpc&type=shopping-ad&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIwfSWzN-_3QIVy0sNCh33nwShEAYYAiABEgJBpvD_BwE&s_kwcid=AL!5468!3!294122431363!!!g!489093265901!&ef_id=Wh9aEgAAAqIqdFQm:20180916143606:s

I would do alcohol before electric:https://smile.amazon.com/Regal-Flame-Ethanol-Fireplace-Burner/dp/B01N5TKIJS/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1537108404&sr=8-3&keywords=alcohol+fireplace+insert

[billybek]

In S.C. I would imagine that you don't have to worry about the house freezing solid in the winter time during a power outage.
I had installed a gas fireplace in the basement that has a millivolt control system and a self generating pilot (powerpile). At only 20,000 btu output the whole house won't be comfortably warm but it is a great backup to stop the house from freezing up.
If your electrical costs are not bad an electric fireplace can really be an asset and some of them look really nice.

[CurtEgerer]

No, today's electric fireplaces are nothing like the cheesy ones from 15-20 years ago. There are many,many different kinds. I had a conventional wood-burning masonry fireplace years ago when it seemed cool to pretend I needed to chop wood and build a fire Then I moved to a gas insert. Even had remote control start. Much easier and cleaner, but still a bit messy and you've still got an open flame inside your home (before I retired,I investigated the charred remains of house fires, usually caused by fireplaces, so I may be biased ). In our RV, we have a Dimplex electric fireplace similar to this one:

Dimplex-36-inch-Revillusion

Love it. It's our main heat source (also have a heat-pump ducted thru the ceiling and a gas furnace ducted through the floor but we're usually not in a cold enough climate to use them). Looks great. No mess. Turn the switch and you've got 'fire', turn the other switch you've got heat. Disclaimer: I'm really old and prefer very simple, low-maintenance things that don't tend to catch fire.

[wdfifteen]

At our old place MrsWD filled the fireplace with various candles mounted on logs. It was attractive and cheap - pretty cool. I wish I had a picture of it to show you. She’s going to recreate it here, but hasn’t gotten around to it yet.

[billybek]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

At our old place MrsWD filled the fireplace with various candles mounted on logs. It was attractive and cheap - pretty cool. I wish I had a picture of it to show you. She’s going to recreate it here, but hasn’t gotten around to it yet.

Kind of a funny story but not for those involved!
Some friends of ours had a wood burning fireplace and had lit a bunch of candles inside of it. With the glass front doors closed and apparently the damper open, the candles created enough heat to create a draw and started burning really hot! Wax melted and spread out inside the fireplace burning everything with a very hot uncontrollable fire!
Panic spread and I cannot recall how they actually put out the flames but it didn't burn the house down.

[Por_sha911]

Nothing beats a wood burning fireplace but the propane logs I have now are a nice compromise of real flame yet easy to use. Electric just doesn't look real to me. Why not go propane? Inexpensive, easy, safe when setup properly.

[David]

I looked at electric fireplaces for my mom last year. I was surprised by how expensive the high end ones cost but even more surprised at how fake they looked. If there’s any possible way of going gas, I would.

[Norm K]

Might as well have a big-screen television showing a fireplace as paying for an electric unit - one's clearly as fake as the other.

_

[freeform911]

I'm with the majority here. Electric seems to fake, not that we'll be using any fire place to much. This is for a more modern look.

We're going with a linear 60" propane fireplace insert. Not cheap but definitely the look we're after.

Thanks again for your opinions, i knew it was a silly question when i asked.
Steve