The 10 Best Fireplace Inserts
This wiki has been updated 22 times since it was first published in September of 2015. Nothing beats the cozy ambiance of a warm fire on a cold night, but having to deal with smoke and ash can put a damper on the mood. By snuggling up to one of these electric inserts this winter instead, you can add low-maintenance warmth to your family’s living room without the hassle and mess associated with a traditional fireplace. They come in a variety of sizes to suit different spaces. When users buy our independently chosen editorial recommendations, we may earn commissions to help fund the Wiki. Skip to the best fireplace insert on Amazon.
10. Dimplex DFI2309
9. Regal Flame Flat
8. Turbro Eternal
7. Pleasant Hearth Natural
6. Homedex Black
5. Ashley Signature
4. R.W. Flame Stove
3. Giantex Log Flame
2. Puraflame Western
1. Classic Flame Infrared
Special Honors
Sutton GAL010 This charming insert from Sutton is made with polished cast iron, giving it a sophisticated look that will make it a stylish addition to a contemporary home. It’s quite compact, so it works best in a small fireplace, and it can be powered by gas as well as electricity. victorianfireplacestore.co.uk
Editor's Notes
February 13, 2020:
We replaced the ClassicFlame Quartz (which was no longer available) with the ClassicFlame Infrared. While it’s virtually the same in terms of heat output, the new version utilizes a patent-pending technology to give a three-dimensional effect to the flames. We also updated the listing for the Ashley Signature to the large size, as the small size is now only available in used condition.
Availability issues also led us to remove the AKDY Freestanding and Golden Vintage Stove. We determined while reviewing the Pleasant Hearth Natural that it’s one of the best values available, making it a nice alternative for those who’d prefer not to spend big on a high-end model. We gave it a slight upgrade in the rankings.
We added four new items to the list, ranging in size from 23 to 42 inches. People seem to enjoy the broad range of visual elements offered by the Homodex Black — it allows you to choose from nine flame colors to go with each ember setting (logs or crystal stones).
Cleaner, Safer Fire
The light they produce has its waves bent and slowed through three-dimensional panes of glass designed to creates the appearance of flames.
Tending a real fire is a messy, dangerous business. There's almost no end to the things that can go wrong, and any attempt at fixing a problem is almost guaranteed to get you covered in soot. You have to keep the space clean, maintain the flue, sweep the chimney, and guard against an attack from stray sparks or embers.
Fireplace inserts take just about all the hassle out of the experience with little to no sacrifice in the soothing experience of having a fire in your space. You almost have no choice but to make a little hot chocolate and grab a fluffy pair of slippers in their presence.
Interestingly, very few of the inserts on our list actually deal in real fire. The vast majority of them operates electronically, producing the illusion of a real flame through a variety of clever tricks. Any of the actual fire-bearing inserts on our list utilize small gas burners that are easily replaceable and that burn in and around flame-retardant logs made of resin.
The electric fireplace inserts on our list create the appearance of flames most often by utilizing refracted light. LED, halogen, or incandescent bulbs, usually orange or red in color, sit beneath an artificial log structure. The light they produce has its waves bent and slowed through three-dimensional panes of glass designed to creates the appearance of flames.
Some fireplace inserts will utilize additional variables like water vapor to further distort the light, or even to create the appearance of smoke, though no smoke is present. That's probably the most alluring thing about these fireplace inserts: there is no smoke, there are no fumes.
But what's a fire without the heat, right? Well, these fireplace inserts, in addition to creating the appearance of a fire, also contain metal coils that heat electrically. Behind those coils is a quiet fan that distributes the heat throughout a room, allowing your fireplace insert to double as a space heater. If you want the look of a fire on a hot summer night without the heat, you can simply disable the heat function, and enjoy the show.
Can The Fire Fit?
I recently moved into an apartment that has a lovely faux fireplace, and the first thing my girlfriend and I talked about when we saw it was setting up a fake fire there. The thing about that spot, however, is that it's mostly meant to be a decorative space so it's decidedly shallow.
As you look at all of the fireplace inserts on our list, you'll probably notice that they vary significantly in their depth, as well as their other dimensions. In a space like ours, the deeper fireplace inserts designed to fit into an otherwise fully functional fireplace would stick out and look incredibly strange to any guests.
The thing about that spot, however, is that it's mostly meant to be a decorative space so it's decidedly shallow.
The brick around our decorative mantle is all white, as well, so there's something just a little off about having an overtly traditional insert on display. In the end, we decided to go with one of the more modern designs, and we were delighted to find out that they worked as space heaters, as well, since there's not any heating infrastructure in the building.
So, as much as you will make your decision from a fundamentally aesthetic perspective, that perspective will inevitably be constrained by the practicality of your space. Take stringent measurements of the fireplace you intend to fill to begin your process of elimination.
Once you've whittled the list down that far, you can ask yourself the easiest question, which is whether you want an electric or a gas insert. Some gas inserts operate by connecting to existing gas lines, but the odds of one such line running to your fireplace are slim. Others utilize canisters, which you need to replace far more often than the bulbs in an electric fireplace.
If you do choose electric, the big balancing act exists between the look of the flames and the amount of heat produced. As you spend more money, you'll get a little more heat and a little more realism. In the mid-range, however, you'll likely have to prioritize one over the other.
Fire For Aeons
If you look around at anything in your house, you can thank fire for it. Without fire, or, more specifically, our burning of fossil fuels for energy, none of the electricity we've enjoyed all our lives would be present. Sure we have some infrastructure for wind, solar, and hydrodynamic power, but these industries still only account for a fraction of our energy consumption.
The technology behind artificial, electric fire is much more recent.
Fire's an old friend of ours, as well. According to archeological finds in Israel, as well as evidence of contact on flint tools before and after certain points in the carbon dating, most scientists believe early man–specifically hominins, a predecessor to mankind–used flint tools to create and control fire as many as 350,000 years ago.
The technology behind artificial, electric fire is much more recent. From about the late 1960s onward, the inherent dangers in live pyrotechnics led some concert organizers and stage designers to seek alternative methods of delivering the thrill of the flame to the audience without all the risk. Refracted light did the trick, and it looked alright from a distance, but rather cheap up close.
Advances in the physics of refraction, as well as an integration of multiple colors of LEDs, has given the market an artificial fire so convincing that it can live and work beautifully in the home.
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In addition to his corporate career as a marketing and communications professional in Chicago, Sam runs a popular blog that focuses on the city’s flourishing craft beer and brewery scene. He received his degree in journalism from DePaul University (which spurred his interest in freelance writing) and has since spent years developing expertise in copywriting, digital marketing and public relations. A lifetime of fishing, hiking and camping trips has left him well-versed in just about any outdoors-related topic, and over several years spent working in the trades during his youth, he accumulated a wealth of knowledge about tools and machinery. He’s a travel junkie, a health and fitness enthusiast, and an avid biker.