How Do Electric Fireplaces Work?

Would you like to have a fireplace without the work of having a chimney installed? Do you want a beautiful fireplace with realistic flames? Would you like cost efficient heating that’s 100% energy efficient in your home? Then an electric fireplace could be the perfect option. Let’s take a look at how electric fireplaces work and explore whether an electric fireplace is the right choice for your home.

How Electric Fireplaces Generate Heat

Electric fireplaces generate heat in two different ways. The first way, and most common way, is using a fan heater. The fan heater has a metal coil inside. When an electric current passes through the coil, it heats up. A fan then blows the warm air created around the coil into your room to make it nice and cosy.

Depending on the brand of your electric fireplace, you could have a remote or an app to control the heat from the fire. Get your room to just the right temperature.

Fan heater electric fireplace are generally considered to be one of the safest options for a fireplace. After all, nothing is burned and no carbon monoxide is created. The only major safety considerations are ventilation and distances to combustible materials that are combustible or at risk of melting. Manufacturers will detail their guidelines in the appliance manual.

The second way to generate heat in electric fireplaces is infrared. The appliance turns electricity into invisible rays of light that travel through the air, heating the objects in their path. Think of it as similar to how the sun’s rays heat things.

How electric fireplace flame effects are created

Older electric fireplaces used mechanical systems of rotating cylinders and lights to create the effect of a fire. The moving parts would eventually break and need to be replaced.

Fortunately, electric fireplace flame effects have become a lot more realistic, a lot easier to achieve and a lot cheaper in recent years.

Depending on the brand of electric fireplace you buy the visual effects will be created differently. Some brands capture footage of real fires with rolling smoke and burning embers, and play these on HD video screens built into the electric fireplace so that you’re effectively always watching a fire on a TV. These electric fireplaces sometimes come with audio of fires in different stages that range, from roaring fires, to the sound of those last few embers burning out.

But that method of creating flame effects is also on its ways out in favour of the latest developments in LEDs. Cost efficient LEDs last for years and cost next to nothing to run. They create the light of a real fire and can flicker, fade and illuminate your home in the style of a real flame. You need only look at an electric fireplace like the Ezee Glow 60″ Celestial Built-In Electric Fire to see this in action.

Some electric fireplace brands allow you to set timers for your fireplace to begin to slowly come alive, and later in the night to slowly fade away at your preset time. Many also offer ambiance only modes, where the flame effects work but the heater is switched off. The result is a cosy atmosphere with almost no running costs.

How different electric fireplace installations work

There are five main types of electric fireplace installations:

Wall mounted electric fireplaces

Wall hung or wall-mounted electric fireplaces are secured against a wall, usually with a fitting kit supplied with the appliance. Once fitted, they just plug into an electric socket and are ready for action. The Ezee Glow Zara Black Wall Mounted Electric Fire is a good example of this.

Built-in electric fireplaces

Built-in electric fireplaces, sometimes called media wall electric fireplaces, are recessed within a wall, which means all of the cables and the socket itself are hidden within the recessed fireplace. The Ezee Glow Zara Black Wall Mounted Electric Fire — mentioned above — can also be recessed. And the Ezee Glow 50” Celestial Built-In Media Wall Electric Fire is another popular built-in electric fireplace.

Freestanding electric fireplaces

Freestanding electric fireplaces are often designed to look like wood-burning stoves, and are also plugged into a wall socket. They are easily transportable from room to room, which makes them ideal if you move between rooms often and want heat to follow you. If this is what you’re looking for, take a look at the Ezee Glow Crescent Electric Stove.

Electric fireplace suites

Electric fireplace suites, like the Ezee Glow Aura 50” Electric Suite, are made with ease of installation in mind, so you don’t need to build a stud wall to enjoy a built-in electric fireplace. Electric suites have the electric fireplace built into an existing surround. Decorate the suite, house your TV on top or use it for storage (the Ezee Glow Aura actually includes a storage recess at its base as well, where gaming consoles, TV boxes or ornaments can be placed).

Electric inset fireplaces

Electric inset fireplaces are fires that slot into an existing fireplace opening to convert it into an electric fireplace. This makes for a cost-efficient repurposing of your existing fireplace. The Ezee Glow Pulse Black Inset Electric Fire is a great way to give an old fireplace a modern makeover.

Find your perfect electric fireplace

Choose from our wide range of quality electric fireplaces to find the right one for your living room.