duraflame Electric Log Set Heater

After having lived 1.5 Minnesota winters in my 100+ year old Craftsman, I realized we needed something to supplement the heat on the main floor. The entire house is on one thermostat, meaning by the time it thought the downstairs was appropriately cozy, the upstairs was doing a convincing impression of a Swedish sauna. I needed something to supplement the heat downstairs and tell the thermostat to (literally) chill—and a bit of ambiance wouldn’t hurt.I did some homework and realized that, with my eczema, I’d need infrared heat, and this little guy was the best rated. Six and a half years later, I have not regretted my choice. I’ll run through the specifics below.Size: I have a coal-burning fireplace, meaning it’s much smaller than a wood-burning one. This heater fits perfectly.Heat output: the technology on mine doesn’t allow me to pick an exact temperature, but it acts as a great supplement to my radiators even on days when the temp drops to well below zero.Ease of use: you can set it how you want it on the side panel, then just use the remote to turn it on and off. I find the remote buttons to be vague enough that I don’t really know what difference they’re making, which is why I only use it as a power switch.Ambiance: does it look like a real fire? Not exactly, but it’s close enough that it makes the room pretty and cozy. Definitely sets a “curl up with a hot chocolate and a good book” mood.Value: This is what I really came here to say. We have run this thing for several hours almost every day for about six months out of the year (remember: Minnesota) for SIX. YEARS. Over the past week it kept shutting off, and I was worried I’d have to replace it. Nope! Turns out the intake vent was choked with dust and cat hair. A good vacuuming with the blade attachment, and it is once again happily chugging along at my side like the day I set it up. Which brings me to...Safety: What I thought was a malfunction (turning itself off quickly after I turned it on) was actually the unit's safety feature at work. It was saving us from a conflagration of dust and cat hair. Good to know that feature works!If you need an aesthetically pleasing, practical, long-lasting space heater/fireplace insert, buy this. It’s worth the money and then some.

I live on the Gulf Coast, so suffice to say it doesn't get super cold here even in winter, and honestly I'm not sure why my house was built with a fireplace to begin with, but it was. Recently our gas company decided to stop running gas to the fireplaces for code reasons, so my rarely used gas insert became completely inert. I've always wished my fireplace was a little more cheery, especially around the holidays, and after staying in B&B recently that had a small electric fireplace I started looking into getting one for myself.I chose this one because I wanted to be able to use it not just for aesthetic reasons, but I wanted it to actually heat my downstairs (on those days when it does get down into the 50s and 40s) without turning on my central heating. Since the infrared models were advertised to heat up to 1000 sq ft - over the 400 sq ft the non-infrared models could heat - I thought it was worth the extra cost. I'm happy to report that it was totally worth it. It heats up my downstairs where I watch TV and game and leaves the upstairs where I sleep nice and cool - just how I like it. Using the central heat I'd have to actually turn the AC back on at night to get it to a comfortable sleeping temperature, but this has solved that problem and is saving me money on my electricity bill since I'm not having to run either the central heat or AC.The cord is also pretty long. I was a bit worried about whether or not I would need an extension cord, but it reached the nearest wall plug without any issue. And, yes, you will have to live with a cord coming out of your fireplace unless you have a plug built into your fireplace to hide it.Overall I have been extremely happy with this purchase. It looks very nice in my fireplace, and since I have a screen in front of the opening it's even harder to tell at first glance that it's just an electric heater with fancy lights on it. It definitely doesn't look like a REAL fire, but it looks real enough to give the overall impression and ambiance of having a fire and is a major improvement over a dark, cold empty fireplace. And, cheesy at it sounds, I actually really love the crackling and popping sound track. It doesn't sound fake or recorded (no background white noise when it plays) and it just makes it feel cozy and homey. Even my partner who initially laughed at it as being silly, eventually told me, "You know what? I actually really like the crackling sounds."My pets (especially my older cat) also really enjoy it as you can see evidenced in the picture.If you just want it for the aesthetic, I'd say don't pay for the infrared model, but if you want something that will actually work as an alternative heat source this one will do the job and look pretty great doing it.

The media could not be loaded. So happy I purchased this. I had purchased a different design to use in a fireplace I am building in the media room then realized it had no sound effects, which I really wanted...The first had been shipped so ordered this one thinking I would return the first. Boy was I wrong. Both are keepers. I did order a sound box for the first and it is awesome...Real fire crackles....I took out my gas logs in the parlor fireplace, the gas longs never did work well, and inserted this one...Ordered Lava rock, small, to fill the bed so it all looks so real....Just veryexcited to have them both. The cord is an average 5 or 6 foot length which was a bit shy of what I need so I ordered the 14gage extension cord they recommend..tucks nicely under a near by secretary so you would never know and stapled the units cord to the baseboard.....This is a great price for a fantastic product. I tested out everything on both and the heater puts out a good amount of heat...yes you can hear him a bit when the heat is on but nothing loud....8 feet out from it and I heard nothing....Any odd sound you hear on the video is my ceiling fan on high....t