by Terry Edwards
Almost everyone who experiences cold weather knows what a fireplace is, but not everyone has gone beyond the classic, smoky wood burning fireplace. With today's problem of global warming, it would be helpful to the environment if we began looking for other fireplace options. Luckily, with an electric fireplace, anyone can enjoy a fireplace without the environmental hazards. It's making for a great option.
An electronic fireplace, is a practical and efficient energy source that will heat your home, while at the same time, instill the warm atmosphere of a classic fireplace without the hassles. These electric fireplaces have different designs, sizes and motifs to match the interior design of any home.
The electric fireplace is really a great addition for your home, with different modes that can be adjusted (with a click of a button) from a quiet romantic glow to a roaring flame for cold nights; it also has a realistic sound, and is safer than a classic wood fireplace. With so many advantages, many of you may be wondering, "how does it work?"
At length, by mid-afternoon, after we had had two or three rainbows over the sea, the showers ceased, and the heavens gradually cleared up, though the wind still blowed as hard and the breakers ran as high as before. Keeping on, we soon after came to a charity-house, which we looked into to see how the shipwrecked mariners might fare. Far away in some desolate hollow by the seaside, just within the bank, stands a lonely building on piles driven into the sand, with a slight nail put through the staple, which a freezing man can bend, with some straw, perchance, on the floor on which he may lie, or which he may burn in the fireplace to keep him alive. Perhaps this hut has never been required to shelter a shipwrecked man, and the benevolent person who promised to inspect it annually, to see that the straw and matches are here, and that the boards will keep off the wind, has grown remiss and thinks that storms and shipwrecks are over; and this very night a perishing crew may pry open its door with their numbed fingers and leave half their number dead here by morning. When I thought what must be the condition of the families which alone would ever occupy or had occupied them, what must have been the tragedy of the winter evenings spent by human beings around their hearths, these houses, though they were meant for human dwellings, did not look cheerful to me. They appeared but a stage to the grave. The gulls flew around and screamed over them; the roar of the ocean in storms, and the lapse of its waves in calms, alone resounds through them, all dark and empty within, year in, year out, except, perchance, on one memorable night. Houses of entertainment for shipwrecked men! What kind of sailor’s homes were they?
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
Most electric fireplaces use a "fan forced heater" to spread warmth throughout a room. These heaters work by using electricity to heat large metal coils within the fireplace. A fan is then used to direct the heat from the coils outwards, thereby heating the room.
Fan forced heaters work in a very energy efficient manner, allowing heat distribution over a large area. The heaters inside of the electric fireplace also provide heat instantly as soon as they are turned on, with no delay for heating elements to warm up. These heaters are also quiet because of its silent fans.
So what's the deal with an electric fireplace? Why is it better? How practical is it? An electric fireplace produces the same amount of heat as a wood powered fire, without the smoke and risk of flying sparks. Unlike gas or wood fireplaces, electric units require no venting, so you don't need to worry about getting a built-in chimney or duct system.
A lot of electric fireplaces are also portable, giving you the freedom to rearrange the interior designs of your room easily. What is also outstanding is that it looks and feels so natural that your guests will probably be unable to tell that they are not experiencing a conventional fireplace.
My passions have never jumped out of the fireplace and set fire to the carpet.
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
There are a lot of other ways you can use electric fireplaces; it can also be used to heat a smaller home, office or apartment. It also lessens your expenses because you don't have to pay for firewood or chimney cleaning bills. If you haven't checked out an electric fireplace yet you should take a serious look at these units if you are considering adding a new fireplace in your home.
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