An Electric fireplace with a realistic flame???

17 years ago

Here's the deal. My husband wants a library with a fireplace with built in bookcases, reading chairs etc. The catch is the room size is only 11x 14 and is going to overheat quickly with a fire burning.

Option 1: A gas insert is made for an area 10 times the room size- even on simmer it can run 10 minutes or so before you overheat. We could vent the heat to a different room like the basement but at more expense. Cost $2,500-3,500

Option 2: A wood burning fireplace with gas logs will vent the heat outside. Inefficient but it works- although the new chimney will cause us to eliminate a window in my daughters room upstairs. Bummer in Oregon because light is at a premium. Cost $2,500 plus trim and stone, etc

Option 3: An electric fireplace or a ventless gel pac fuelled fireplace that is a tenth of the cost. They are smaller depths and our cabinet guy can build it in so it looks real. I hear the flames look better nowdays and how often is it really going to be used? A nice iron screen to camo the cheaper log set and it is faux fire. Cost $500

My husband thinks it will be cheesy and there is nowhere in Corvallis to see these fireplaces in action. Anyone love their electric or ventless fireplaces?

Comments (6)

formulaross
17 years ago
An Electric fireplace with a realistic flame??? - Isn't that an oxymoron?

My mom had a vcr tape of a nice fire burning in a fireplace that she would play over her TV, complete with all the sounds; I could make a copy and send it to you.
nra4usa
17 years ago
Teambrant,

You are in luck. There is an electric fireplace with a very realistic flame. It won a prestigious Vesta award at this years Hearth industry trade show.

The fireplace is called the "Multi-Fire" electric fireplace. It is made by a company called Dimplex.

Here is the website: www.dimplex.com

Good luck!
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rick_fireplace_guy
17 years ago
Check out the Lennox Hearth site they bought out superior and a couple of other companies and have developed an electric fireplace using Hollogram technology. Its simple to use and the holgram is supplied by a dvd player and a tv built into the fireplace complete with all the sounds the only thing missing is that "wonderfull" smell.
www.lennox.com and look for the hearth link
myoneandonly
17 years ago
teambrant, what did you end up doing? I visited a fireplace retailer yesterday and they happened to have a rep in with a new halographic flame electric fireplace. I was impressed. He said it was $1199 (I think) installed with a remote and a heat function. I was standing at least 2-3 feet away and could feel the heat but it wasn't overpowering, in spite of an outside temp of 81. I did see one of these fireplaces installed in the model of a very lovely European-styled apartment complex. The mantel was a very dark chocolate cherry, as was the furniture, and the soft furnishings were in brown chennile with raw silk in raspberry and lime checks. It was a chilly day and when the realtor turned on the "flame" from across the room, I felt like I was in a luxurious apartment in Rome. We wound up with a different apartment complex because they have wood-burning fireplaces. We used it twice and then not again because it was so messy getting the wood in and cleaning out the ashes, and because it did not draw properly. In fact anytime a nearby resident uses their fireplace (the apartment complex supplies free, crapy, unseasoned wood or people burn those really cheap paper logs), it fills the little valley we're in and stinks. The wonderful smell of a properly seasoned, hardwood fire is apparently unknown here. I still have my bias for wood-burning fireplaces, but I could be persuaded to go with the halographic model.
sharon020368_yahoo_com
13 years ago
You have probably already bought now - but we are looking at a Celsi Electric Fireplace. Its the most realistic because it uses video from actual wood burning fireplace as the image.You can even change the image.It looks 3D and has 5000btus too. Sleep timers and lots of other great stuff.American Electric Fireplaces sell them.

Here is a link that might be useful: Celsi Electric Fireplaces Watch Videos
wwwonderwhiskers
13 years ago
The Celsi is certainly amazing. And the world is going to places like this in breakneck speed. Were I in a different situation, I might opt for something like that.

On the other hand, I am mourning the lack of realistic flame too. We will be installing the builder-grade gas FP with "eh" average flame distribution for everyday use, and a full size corner wood burner for my weekends....

(personal comment - I am very glad that I'll be dead before all this becomes the "norm". I would sorely miss my sit-upon hearth, feeding my fire, and all the accouterment which goes thereon...... )