Further Reading

Should you have an electric fireplace for your home? It may be the cheapest, energy efficient and ecologically viable heating option available to you, but not in all cases. You need to study how your house is built, the climate in your area, and the heating options locally available to you.

If an entire house needs heating, an electric fireplace is not as cost-efficient as other combustion systems. On the other hand, if you don't need centralized home heating, or just heating a single room. it's a great option.

Electric heating may also generate a larger carbon footprint, although you may not have found about it before. If your town owns electric plants that utilize fossil fuels, these plants lose energy in the process of producing and transmitting electricity. An electric fireplace is ideal if you are only heating one room, or if you don't have place to install a real fireplace. It's also feasible if you only want it for nostalgic or decorative reasons, and you don't need it to provide centralized heating.

For added decoration, you can get fireplace mantel surrounds for your fireplace. They also add to the illusion of using an actual coal-fired fireplace. The effort needed to install or replace mantel surrounds will take time, but is not too hard.

Mantels offer added functionality as an extra set of shelves. In many cases, these faux fireplaces may also include their own fireplace mantel surrounds. If you do need to change the surround, or just want to change the design, it may have to be custom fitted. That should be easy to do since customized surrounds are easily accessible online.

You can opt to get stone fireplace mantels for a fireplace with a more stable appearance. If you mean to leave the fireplace in only one part of the room, this might be the best choice for you. It will also have a more imposing presence in a room.

An electric fireplace is ideal if you only need to heat one room at a time, or as a portable heating source. It's also viable if you're only using it for recreation, and not as the house's main heating system. Fireplace mantel surrounds offer added functionality as an extra set of shelves. You can choose to get stone fireplace mantels for a more solid looking and convincing fireplace.