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uugh wtf lol electric fireplace!

M

mizzou

Diamond Member
im such an idiot..i assumed the fireplace in our new house was a gas replacement. this is an older 1920s house with some rehab


i opened it up and was like....this is the strangest fireplace ever. (it was covered by moving boxes for weeks)

lo and behold, its a glorified electric heater...?brand is dimplex and its like 32 or 36" long amd seated inside a real fireplace/chimney box....


ughhh this seems like such a waste. what the fuck are these good for anyway??
 
No smoke so you won't be the jackass that chokes out your neighbors.

Electrics are really ugly though. I'd go for a gas log replecement.
 
I considered getting one for my daughter's room at one time. It's just a space heater that gives the illusion of a fire. It's good for people that want a fire-like thing, but can't get a real one for one reason or another.
 
zoiks said:
For heating.
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well obviously lol. I just done see why the previous owners did this vs a gas repla cement or even standard fireplace. The efficiency to cost ratio must be terrible. I pay $0.2377777 for CCF gas and $0.0898 per kWh for electricity
 
Electric is 100% efficient. Even the best gas inserts can't come close?

But really I have no idea unless the PO just liked the gee-wiz aspect of it?
 
NutBucket said:
Electric is 100% efficient. Even the best gas inserts can't come close?

But really I have no idea unless the PO just liked the gee-wiz aspect of it?
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Yeah or maybe the chimney needs major repairs...

Yeah the efficiency of electric is nice, but I feel like if I have a legit chimney and fireplace, I should have a real fireplace! lol
 
Electric is nice until you lose power. We've had several cases where the power went out in the freezing cold winter and our gas fireplace kept the living room nice and cozy.
 
It's strictly a decoration with a heater in it. The "flames" don't actually do anything heat wise. I have one too. I use it every now and then but rarely as it's only like 500 watts.

Electric heat tends to be more expensive than gas, though last year they jacked the natural gas by 75% here so I'm starting to wonder if electric heat may end up being cheaper.

Do yourself a favor though, pull out the insert to make sure they sealed the old fire box properly. Mine was not even sealed. I had ice in it. :awe:


(that's frost, not soot)


Much better.
 
mizzou said:
Would you move back to wood burning?
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I never had wood burning but I would not move to the old style fireplace, they were really inefficient due to using indoor air for combustion, and overall most of the heat ended up outside.

I would love to get a high efficiency wood stove though, one that has a fresh air intake and has all the special designs inside to ensure a good combustion. Something I've been thinking about since the gas prices went up so much. The fact that a wood stove is open all around also ensures that more of the heat makes it inside. The most important thing is a fresh air intake though. If you're sucking indoor air outside you're warming up one area of the house while -40 air is entering in other areas.
 
Personally I would tear that piece of shit out and get a Vermont casting. You just need to throw down a liner. It doesn't make a difference what condition the chimney is in if you can get a liner down there you are fine...
 
mizzou said:
Would you move back to wood burning?
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Hell no unless gas went stupid high. I think the logs got used more than the hvac last winter (not to mention the ice storm/power outages) and the bill was about the same. The fam likes to light it up an sit in front of it mornings/evenings. Surprised they're not roasting marsh mellows.

ymmv, this is the south and we, supposedly, don't get real cold.
 
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I love my wood burner. I don't use it as a primary heat source, but I burn wood as I find it, or use it for stuff that comes down in the yard. If I had a woods on my property, I would use it as a primary heat source. I just don't like buying wood.

Amazing what people spend money on though. The convenience stores around here sell little bundles of wood(.6x.8x1.6) for $4 or $5. Ridiculous... I could find that much wood free looking only a few minutes. I could find enough wood in an hour to burn all day.
 
Don't get me wrong, I'd burn wood if I had to and still have the option. I get wood cheaply from the bro in law. But gas is cheap and clean....so far.
 
I just kill-a-watted it, 800watts on low setting and 1500 on high. I'd rather put my big buddy heater in the house then use it :\

When you say vermont casting you mean the company? Something like this would be nice. My fireplace is about the same size, except bricks/flat stone and not round stone like this.

http://vermontcastings.com/family/Fireplaces/Wood-Burning/Merrimack/

MHSCWebImages39_P_full.jpg
 
mizzou said:
I just kill-a-watted it, 800watts on low setting and 1500 on high. I'd rather put my big buddy heater in the house then use it :\
Click to expand...

It's an electric heater. They're all the same, with the same electric usage. It won't be better or worse than any other electric heater.
 
Yep it's just an electric heater that looks nice, so it's nothing magical, going to use as much watts per therm as any other electric heater.
 
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