Top 5 Things You Need to Know About Electric Fireplaces

Who doesn’t love the cozy warmth and flickering glow from a fireplace? Depending on where you live, temperatures below 50 degrees may mean it’s time to dust off those trusty fireplace tools. But it might be time to change the way you think about adding heat to your home. Built-in, wood-burning fireplaces or gas models are not the only options. Electric fireplaces can more than do the trick this winter with a whole lot less hassle and mess. Keep reading to find out how these super cool, unconventional fireplaces have come a long way in the past decade.

1. Electric Fireplaces Can Help You Save Money on Heating Costs

With heating costs on the rise this winter, every little bit makes a difference. Using a supplemental zone heating strategy in your home is a smart way to cut down on utility costs during the colder months. In a nutshell, zone heating works like this: you only add extra heat to the rooms you use most. If you think about it, you already have zone systems in place. Lighting and plumbing systems are the best examples. You don’t have to turn on every light in the house when you go into the kitchen. And you definitely don’t have to turn on every faucet when you want to take a bath or shower. In short, supplemental zone heating can be described as on-demand heat where you need it.

Here’s how zone heating can save you some dough: turn the thermostat down on your central heating system. For each degree you reduce on the thermostat, you can save up to 3 percent on your heating bill. When you turn down your thermostat by 8 to 10 degrees you can save as much as 15 percent on your electric bill.*

An easy way to take advantage of this concept is with a durflame® electric fireplace stove heater. Perfect for adding heat where you need it, these are also easy to move if your needs change. Or you can get one for every room of the house. Then you’ll have the power right at your fingertips to warm your space while saving money – all while enjoying the ambiance of dancing flame effects. And you can feel good knowing that consumers and reviewers alike love these heaters (the model below has made several best electric fireplace lists)!

2. Cutting-Edge Style and Technology

Electric fireplaces are not just for winter anymore. Innovations from Twin Star Home, like CoolGlow® technology, make your electric fireplace a tool to help you stay comfortable year-round. The exclusive technology of CoolGlow®, with 2-in-1 heater and fan, delivers all-season temperature control with the warmth of an infrared quartz electric fireplace and cool breeze of an oscillating fan for use in warmer months. So, you can add a TV stand (like the one at the start of this blog) to your family room that offers the ambiance of dancing flames, plus warmth when you need it and a cooling fan when you don’t.

3. Advanced Safety Features for Electric Fireplaces

Advanced safety features give you one less thing to worry about. In the past decade or so, electric heaters have come a long way in terms of safety features. Electric fireplaces are no exception. But exclusive fire prevention technologies from Twin Star Home have really moved the needle on safety. In addition to remaining cool to the touch, many of our models include Safer Plug® or Safer Sensor™. Patented Safer Plug® fire prevention technology from ClassicFlame® constantly monitors plug temperature and automatically powers off if unsafe conditions arise.

Patent-pending Safer Sensor™ fire prevention technology from ClassicFlame® alerts you and automatically shuts off the fireplace if anything is blocking the heat output. Available on our TV stands with sliding doors (like the one shown below), this technology means you have the style of sliding cabinet doors that you love with the superior safety you expect for your family. With heaters this smart, you’ll wish for longer winters year after year.

4. Electric Fireplaces: The Greener Option that Adds Ambiance and Subtracts Mess

Give up the mess and hassle of burning wood. You can have the ambiance of dancing flames without the hassle of lugging firewood, cleaning ash and soot from around your home, and the attention needed to keep your fire burning (and safe). Get the same ambiance with more efficient heat with just the flick of a switch. And your family will benefit from cleaner, less allergenic heat. An electric fireplace can also help you live greener.

Electric fireplaces look and behave just like a wood-burning fireplace with that one big exception: nothing is being burned. This helps make it a greener option that provides better quality for the air inside your home. No wood or gas burning means no emissions from smoke, so no pollution in the atmosphere. Plus, with an electric fireplace, there is no worry of carbon monoxide in the air you’re breathing (and you never have to worry about cleaning out that chimney). You don’t even have to have a chimney to enjoy an electric fireplace! But if you do, a log set heater (like the one below from Style Selections at Lowes) can help you enjoy using an unused fireplace again.

And, as you’ve already heard, a supplemental zone heating strategic is greener because you’re not wasting any resources to add excessive heat to unoccupied rooms.

Electric fireplaces also use LED technology. The normal lifespan of an LED bulb is up to 50,000 hours and it contains no mercury, which helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This efficient system consumes less than half the energy of regular incandescent bulbs.

5. No Matter Your Style, We Have an Electric Fireplace for That

An electric fireplace offers you versatility that a traditional wood-burning fireplace can’t. There’s a variety of models to suit every size and type of home, as well as any design style.  

When you start shopping for your electric fireplace, you may hear some unfamiliar terms: insert, wall-hanging insert, and infrared insert to start. Depending on the type, inserts fit snugly into your wall, your mantel, or your TV stand. There are electric fireplace stove heaters, wall mantel electric fireplaces, TV stands with electric fireplaces. And they come in every style from mid-century modern to industrial to modern farmhouse and everything in between.

Innovative designs mean even traditional items like a TV stand with electric fireplace can have eye-catching new style, as seen in a PanoGlow™ TV stand with electric fireplace. This fireplaces’ three-sided glass display offers a brilliant view of your fire from any seat in the room.

The Takeaway: Electric Fireplaces Make Your Sanctuary at Home Even Better

Your home is your sanctuary and there are few things more calming and relaxing than a flickering fire after a stressful day at work. An electric fireplace will only add value to your sanctuary. If you don’t already have one, they’re easy to operate, come in a variety of styles, and do not require any remodeling to your home. Think of your new electric fireplace as the missing piece to the ‘home of your dreams’ puzzle. Your family (and your wallet) will thank you.

For more ideas and styling tips from Twin Star Home® be sure to subscribe to our email newsletter! And don’t forget to follow @TwinStarHome on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Pinterest for even more inspiration!

*Depending on rates where you live, turning down your thermostat 10 degrees during the winter months, and running an alternative heat source in the room you use most can save up to 10% on your energy bill.