Electric Fireplace Heaters Will Make Any Place Cozier
Electric fireplaces have taken off in the past couple of years. It’s one of those things that came out of nowhere, and now they’re everywhere.
There are insert options and portable freestanding options in both small and large sizes.
Related Product: Make your electric fireplace even more realistic with a Smart Fire Crackler Sound System (click to view on Amazon)
What we’re focusing on today are the freestanding/portable electric fireplaces that you can place wherever you want in a room, so long as it’s close to an outlet.
I’m reviewing some of the most popular options on the market.
Lots of new RVs and trailers come with electric fireplaces preinstalled, because why not take the campfire inside?
While RVs also have furnaces to heat the living area, an electric fireplace heater is definitely cozier.
RV furnaces run on propane as well, so if you’re at a campground with full hookups, you can save money by using an electric fireplace.
See Also: Best Patio/Deck Propane Fire Pits For Cozy Evenings
Electric Fireplaces Vs. Wood Burning Stoves
The only downside with an electric fireplace with a fake fire compared to a real fire is the fact that it needs to be plugged in and receive electricity to function.
Other than that, there are so many upsides.
The biggest one is the fact that you don’t have to worry about a real live fire or any smoke.
See Also: Can an Electric Fireplace Sit on Carpet/Rug Safely?
Another great thing with electric fireplaces is that the more advanced ones come with a remote and timer functions so you can have your heater turn on or off when you want to.
Some also have thermometers so you can set the temperature you want in the room, and the heater will turn on and off as needed.
The most important part of an electric fireplace is, of course, the flame.
All the fireplaces I review today have great fake fires that are realistic looking.
Best Overall
Note: Scroll left/right on small screens to view all products on the table.
Best Electric Fireplace Heaters Reviewed
Homcom Compact Electric Fireplace Heater With Realistic Flames
If you want your electric fireplace to have that retro wood-burning stove look, Homcom has you covered.
This 1500W freestanding fireplace looks extremely cozy and comes in three different colors depending on what would fit your room the best.
There are black, red-brown, and white to choose from.
Freestanding, elevated feet, a sturdy steel frame, and a copper handle will all make this fireplace look like an actual stove and improve the coziness of your room.
Of course, it will also heat it!
Homcom doesn’t include a remote, and the fireplace doesn’t have a timer function.
There are, however, a couple of other nice features you won’t find on every fireplace.
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The first thing is the two heat settings. If you want to heat the room a little bit, or at a slower rate, you can use the 750W setting.
If you want the heat to be more intense, you can use the 1500W setting.
Next, you can adjust the brightness and the flame. Make it more or less intense, depending on the mood you want to set.
Homcom Compact Electric Fireplace Heater With Realistic Flames “fake” realistic flame is very life-like and cozy.
They’ve come a long way with fake flames to where they look real in your peripheral vision.
It’s just good enough to trick you and feel the cozy effect of a real fire.
What I Like
- Quickly heats up
- Realistic LED flame
- Overheat and tip-over protection
- Two heat settings
- Brightness/Flame control
Turbro Suburbs TS20 Electric Fireplace Heater
Another fireplace with a retro design is the TS20 by Turbro.
Something about it feels slightly more modern-looking to me compared to the rest, but it still has the look of a real stove.
The vintage style door-knob is definitely retro.
It’s a 1400W freestanding heater that comes in two sizes. 17 and 20 inches.
The smaller one is as powerful as the big one, so the only difference is the size where one is more compact than the other.
Note that Turbro also sells an even larger model (click to view on Amazon) that comes with a remote control and timer functions, the TS23.
I like the 3-sided panoramic viewing glass that lets everybody in the room enjoy the fireplace even if they’re not sitting right in front of it.
Turbro is a company that cares about safety, so the Suburbs TS20 is CSA certified.
That means that the fireplace has been tested in North America and met safety and performance standards.
While the TS20 doesn’t come with a remote, you can control the temperature on the unit itself.
You can choose between 68℉ to 95℉ by turning the dial on the front. This is also where you can turn on and off the heater.
See Also: The Best Tabletop Indoor Fire Pit You Can Roast Smores Over
Feel free to open the stove door to see the realistic flame even clearer. It’s fake, of course, but does do a great job at looking realistic.
The fake wood adds a lot to the cozy ambiance.
The Turbro Suburbs TS20 Electric Fireplace Heater is one of my favorites on the list because of its design.
The mix between retro and modern is one I appreciate.
I wish there were a couple of different colors to choose from, but at least there are three different sizes.
What I Like
- Quickly heats up
- Realistic LED fake flame
- Overheat and tip-over protection
- 3-sided panoramic glass
- Three sizes (TS17, TS20, TS23)
GMHome Freestanding Electric Fireplace Heater Realistic Flame
The GMHome freestanding electric fireplace is a tall 1500W heater that comes in two different colors. Black and white.
Two heat settings let you choose either 750W or 1500W.
I like this feature a lot because sometimes I want just a little bit of heat and not a lot.
A glowing log, lit with lights, will together with the realistic flame look like a real wood-burning stove in your room.
You can also turn on the flame without the heating element if you only want the look of a fire without the heat.
GMHome has made sure you can safely use the heater by implementing tip-over and overheat protection.
The controls are found on the side of the unit, and unfortunately, there is no remote included and no timer functions.
You can set the heat to either low or high, and turn the unit on and off.
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The GMHome Freestanding Electric Fireplace Heater Realistic Flame has a cool old fashioned design that is both cozy and trendy.
It’s a great choice for small rooms due to its compact size and a great way to cozy up any space.
What I Like
- Realistic LED fake flame
- Overheat and tip-over protection
- Two heat settings (750W/1500W)
- Quickly heats up
Duraflame 3D Infrared Electric Fireplace DFI-5010
One of the most popular electric fireplaces on the market is the Duraflame DFI-5010.
When you start looking at its features, it’s easy to understand why.
It’s like if you would combine all the other fireplaces on the market because the Duraflame has all the features you need in an electric fireplace.
It’s a 1500 watt heater capable of heating an area up to 1,000 square feet.
It has an infrared quartz heat feature that helps maintain the humidity in the air, making rooms more comfortable to be in.
Side viewing windows let everybody in the room see the flame and feel the coziness.
Speaking of the flame, Duraflame has a patent-pending 3D flame that dances on and behind the fake wooden logs.
It’s also adjustable, with five different brightness settings. Duraflame is, in my opinion, the electric fireplace with the most realistic fake flame.
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Duraflame also lets you turn the flame on without the heat running so you can use it outdoors on a warm summer evening without wasting power.
You access the control panel by opening the door, and I like this design since it will hide the controls when the door is closed.
A small detail, but it adds to the overall simple look of this fireplace. It makes it look more like an actual stove than an electric one.
The Duraflame 3D Infrared Electric Fireplace DFI-5010 comes with a remote control that lets you increase/decrease the brightness, turn on/off the timer, and turn on and off the fireplace.
For some reason, Duraflame hasn’t put a temperature control feature in the remote.
If you want to change the temperature, you have to walk over to the fireplace, open the door to get to the control panel, and adjust it.
A shutoff timer function lets you choose between 30 minutes to 9 hours before the unit will turn itself off automatically.
If you’re sold on Duraflame, but would like a smaller fireplace, check out the Duraflame DFS-450-2 (click to view on Amazon).
What I Like
- Remote included
- Timer function
- Infrared Quartz Heat
- Quickly heats up
- Realistic 3D Flame Effect
- Overheat protection
Xbeauty Electric Freestanding Fireplace Stove
The Xbeauty electric heater is a 3D freestanding stove style fireplace.
You can see the flames from 3 different sides and it uses fake logs and flames to make it look very realistic.
The large version is 23.6 inches long, 12.6 inches wide, and 22.5 inches tall.
It has double doors that can open with old fashioned copper wood stove handles.
There’s also a smaller version (click to view on Amazon) that has a single door but the same old fashioned wood stove aesthetic.
The large version weighs 17.6 lbs and has two heating modes that will use 1000 or 1500 watts of power depending on the needs of the room.
The fan on the electric heater is quiet and uses infrared heating technology for more efficient and safer heat distribution.
It can heat rooms or spaces that are 400 to 500 square feet in 5-7 minutes depending on how cold it is when you turn the heater on.
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There is an automatic overheat kill switch and tip over turn off.
The max sound levels are 40db. That’s 10db quieter than the average refrigerator.
The control system is on the unit itself.
There’s a knob to control the temperature, a switch for the flame and both heat settings (1000 or 1500W), and another knob that adjusts the brightness of the flame.
The Xbeauty Electric Freestanding Fireplace Stove is the perfect option for large rooms that need a realistic looking log fire to make it feel cozier.
What I Like
- Doors Can Open
- Uses Logs For 3D Fake Fire
- Infrared Heating
- Can Adjust Brightness
- Two Heating Modes
- Overheat & Tip-Over Safety Features
Frequently Asked Question
Why does my new electric fireplace smell weird when turned on?
It’s normal for a new electric fireplace to have a “new” smell during first use or after being turned on again after sitting in storage for a while.
You don’t have to worry about it as long as the smell disappears after being on for a while. After 10 minutes it should be gone.
Will an electric fireplace save me money?
Using a space heater instead of a furnace to heat your home could save you money, as long as you use the fireplace wisely.
For example, if you know you’re going to be sitting in your living room for a couple of hours, turn off your furnace and turn on the fireplace if you need to heat the room.
This way, the furnace won’t be turning on to heat rooms you’re not in.
That is the most significant waste with a furnace, the fact that you’re heating so many rooms you’re not in at the moment.
How do electric fireplaces work?
What kind of light bulb does my electric fireplace use?
It depends on the fireplace. You should read the manual for your specific model.
If you have any questions about it, I recommend calling or emailing the company that made the model you own.
Can you turn on the fake fire without running the heater?
Most good electric fireplaces on the market allow you to do this.
I think it’s a great feature to include since sometimes you want a cozy fire but not a ton of heat necessarily.
Like if you’re sitting outside on a warm summer evening, you can take your fireplace out and let it light up the area you’re seated at.
Can an electric fireplace heat a house/basement?
Duraflame (click to view on Amazon), one of the most powerful electric fireplaces I reviewed above can heat an area up to 1,000 square feet.
Your house or basement is most likely bigger than that, but maybe your living room or the main room of your basement isn’t over 1,000 square feet, so then it’s capable of heating it.
Don’t expect magic though, it will still take some time to heat up a medium-sized room.
Can you leave an electric fireplace on overnight?
All of the fireplaces I reviewed above come with overheat protection built-in, which means that it will turn off if it senses temperatures above normal.
Now, this means that, yes, you can leave the fireplace on overnight since it’s protected, right? Well, I wouldn’t do it still.
Sure, I bet the company has done a thorough job to make sure the fireplace is safe to run, but will I trust that enough to leave it running in my home without me watching it?
No. Better safe than sorry.
Can electric fireplaces damage my tv?
If you’re looking to buy a fireplace that acts as a tv stand (click to view on Amazon) or already have one, you don’t need to worry about them damaging the tv.
As long as the company that sold it advertises it as a tv stand, you won’t risk damaging the tv on top.
Have any more questions about freestanding fake electric fireplaces? Leave a comment below.
