All in all, I'm happy with the Dimplex 23" electric fireplace insert. It cheers up our home with a flick of a switch and looks nice. A friend said the insert looks too perfect to be real, but it's probably as good as it gets for an electric insert. The flame does look real to me. In our area there are so many "spare the air days" when it is illegal to burn wood and I'd just as soon have the look without the bother anyway.
This fireplace insert does warm up a room that is about 20 x 20 square feet, as I tried in our bedroom to see if it would work as advertised. But we use it mainly in our much larger living room, inside the fireplace. The damper is stuck in the open position so some heat probably out that way. It can probably be fixed. Currently we get warmth only right next to the fireplace. That is acceptable because the floor plan is open and the living room has a high cathedral ceiling, several huge glass windows, and a sliding glass door to outside. So even a real fire is not likely to warm up this type of room. The Duraflame logs we used to use did not. I'm noting this so readers will have realistic expectations for ambiance but not much heat in a large room with much opportunity for heat to escape. I plug in a space heater to get eat too."..." Read more
- Naomi in San Rafael, CA