Electric or Gas Fireplace?

[Mitch123]

Hi There, newbie here. I've been trying to look for some forums about the best fireplace. Trying to replace my old one and looking at maybe try an electric but not totally sure. I've seen some modern designs and they could also be used as a table or tv stand. Has anyone tried like Ameriwood Home Chicago? Saw it from this review - thewiredshopper.com/best-electric-fireplace-tv-stand-to-buy Has anyone had any experience?

 

[jsiets]

We have had good luck with the Dimplex line of electrics at work. Do not have any experience with the one that you mentioned above.

 

[Poindexter]

What is your relative price for electric v- NG? Local to me one dollar worth of cord wood has the same BTUs or calories or whatever as two dollars worth of fuel oil for my furnace. I don't buy the oil green and season it myself and to burn the oil I just twiddle a dial on the wall, but it is a big difference because I use so much of it. The same energy as one dollar in cord wood or two dollars of oil would be ten bucks if I buy it as electricity.

There are many online calculators for this. If nothing else one will have a faster break even point than the other.

 

[jsiets]

Had a customer tell me the other day it is cheaper for them to run their Natural gas stove to heat his addition than it is to run electric, electricity in my area is high right now. Price of the units themselves electric fireplaces are considerably cheaper than gas, but that will vary a little bit area to area of the country as well

 

[Woodsplitter67]

me personally for my area, id go gas. gas is much cheaper and still runs when the electric goes out. youll get more warmth out of gas and also you can adjust the BTU ouput on most log sets. the fire viewing to me personally is better with gas also. the initial cost to set up the electric may be cheeper but over the long hall you may be better with a higher upfront cost.. you need to check out the cost of both utilities and the cost of install and do the math and project it out over say 5 years to see which one will be the better value over the longer term..

 

[webby3650]

I don’t know how it can even be called a fireplace? There’s no fire! Personally I think the entire electric fireplace experience is a huge let down. You could get a CD with a loop of a wood fire and be better off. If you’ve got gas available then I would highly suggest going that route.