The unique decorative mantels made of cast stone and hand-finished are easy to install and remove, enabling you to change the fireplace look and design when you renovate your home or refurbish a room. Simply remove the old fireplace mantel and replace it with a new design that suits your new décor. These affordable mantels ensure that you do not have to live in a home with outdated décor.

Functional Aspects

The mantel around your fireplace serves the function of highlighting the fire and clearly demarcating the fireplace zone. This is a safety feature and ensures that the walls near the fireplace are not damaged. The mantel serves as a buffer zone between the fireplace and the rest of your home.
The top of the mantel also serves as a comfortable ledge for placing a variety of objects. This mantel ledge ensures that all those essential items are contained in a particular spot without cluttering the room.

Decorative

Even while the fireplace surround or mantel serves its function, you can ensure that it adds to the décor of the room. Mantels now come in a variety of designs such as Floral, French, Brookstone, Arch, Stonebriar, Cumberland, Hermitage, and Richmond. These options make it easy for the homeowner to choose a mantel design that enhances the ambience of the room.

Material

The cast stone mantels come with a black fossil stone top. The decorative cast stone mantels are made of premium crushed stone blended with a polymer binder. This mix is hollow cast and reinforced with structural reinforcements. The final product is hand finished to ensure that the desired color and design are obtained.

Warranty

The fireplace surrounds come with a one-year limited warranty to ensure that your investment is protected.
Whether you are renovating your home or simply redecorating a room to make it more contemporary, you can easily include a new mantel in your design changes. The easy to install mantels provide you with a host of design options and can inspire you to come up with an original design statement.

You can use patio heaters to heat your patio on cold evenings and ensure that this vital part of your home is put to use during the cooler months as well.

All Different Types

Patio heaters offer style, ambiance, heat, safety, and light – all at the touch of a button. Patio heaters come in a variety of styles and price ranges to complement your outdoor décor and meet your budgetary constraints.
Many of these patio heaters run on propane gas and do not require electrical outlets on your patio. This also makes them truly portable; you can position them on the patio depending on the gathering size, event, and so on. If you are entertaining a large gathering on your patio, all you need to do is place more of these patio heaters in various places ensuring that the entire patio is covered in a warm glow that adds to a cozy atmosphere.

Safety Considerations

Most modern patio heaters have a safe tilt switch for safety. Additionally, the glass enclosing the flame is shatterproof ensuring that you can safely use these heaters even in crowded areas. These safety features mean that homeowners can relax when using the patio heaters even if they are surrounded by small children and pets. By ensuring that the patio heaters have adequate safety features you can spend time relaxing instead of monitoring the movements of your children and pets. They too will enjoy the added pleasure of being allowed to indulge in active play.

Enjoying Your Patio even on the Coldest of Days

Some patio heaters come with optional wheels, ensuring that you can easily re-position them depending on your mood. The patio heaters with handheld remotes offer the added convenience of adjusting the heat and light without having to move from your comfortable seat. This makes it easier for you to relax with your family, listening to music, playing a board game, or just talking about the Yankees and Lakers losing for example.

Safety on Cold Nights

Safety concerns motivate most householders to install fireplace screens for their electric or traditional wood fireplaces. Even though you cannot do without one on a cold winter evening, a fireplace poses many risks in a house. A crackling log fire is warm and inviting but the occasional spark or a burning cinder may damage the carpets and rugs in your room or worse, start a fire. Installing a screen mitigates these risks and brings you peace of mind.

Pets & Children

A live fire in the house can be dangerous especially if you have kids and/or pets. Kids can be very inquisitive and pets can be frisky or careless. And it will take only the slightest poking, prodding, or probing around the fireplace to spark off an accident. Installing fireplace screens keeps the fire out of reach from kids and pets and spares you the need to hover around when the precious little ones or the adorable furry members of your family play near the fireplace.

Ideal Timing

Apart from the above-mentioned functionalities, these fireplace accessories can also give your rooms startling design makeovers. For instance, the chunky-looking fireplace in your ancestral home just does not gel with your classy interior décor and yet you just cannot bring yourself to pull it down. An ornate screen in antique gold finish or an intricately carved scrolled iron screen will solve your design woes most effectively and cost-efficiently. What is more, you can always replace a screen when you select a décor makeover without needing to worry about costs.

These accessories are available for both traditional wood fireplaces and the more contemporary electric makes. So, even if you tear apart your old wood fireplace to install an electric one, you can make do with the old screen; it won’t mar the look any bit.

Long Lasting

The fireplace screens from Portable Fireplace not only flaunt unique and exquisite designs but are also built sturdily to withstand heat. They last for years and also retain their looks for long periods of time. You thus achieve cost-efficiency on another front as well.

Browse for some stellar-quality and beautifully crafted screens on our website and add a layer of safety and/or obtain a décor makeover almost instantly. Just because you have energetic small children and/or pets does not mean you cannot enjoy a fabulous fire when you want one.

Another advantage of a Dimplex Electric Fireplace as compared to other electric fireplaces is the outstanding size and depth of the flame that it displays. It blows the competition away. The flames can be adjusted to suit, but this one is the best that I have seen by far.

A typical fireplace provides about 5000 BTU that will easily heat a room of 400 square feet. When considering energy costs, one should consider how much heat is wasted when the entire home is heated, and several rooms may not be occupied all the time. Therefore it is much more cost efficient to just heat the room that you and your family are spending the most time in. An electric fireplace is also very good for the environment as it does not use any fossil fuels for operation.

Another advantage of a Dimplex Electric Fireplace is that it can be installed along any wall in the home, as long as there is an electrical outlet nearby. It can be installed in just minutes, and moved about the room or home as one wishes at any time. There is no need for exhaust pipes, chimneys or gas lines into the room. In addition, electric fireplaces are not just limited to homes, but come in many different sizes and can be placed in any apartment or condo.

If you are thinking of purchasing your electric fireplace online, be sure to check our Dimplex fireplace category page at PortableFireplace.com. We look forward to helping you choose one of our many beautiful free standing electric fireplaces to fit your home or apartment. Our elegant, beautiful fireplaces will turn any room from ordinary to extraordinary. In addition, our electric fireplaces use only a fraction of the energy needed to heat a room the conventional way, saving you even more money. We invite you and your family to take a look at our new electric fireplaces and we will be happy to help you find the perfect addition to your home or apartment. Makes a wonderful gift for that someone special in your life as well.

The 53″ Dimplex Windham Mocha Glass Entertainment Center Fireplace features a 120 volt direct plug in electric wall fireplace with a heat output that is controlled with its adjustable thermostat.

Do You Care About Air Quality?

Unlike a traditional fireplace, eco-friendly electric fireplaces do not emit carbon dioxide, does not produce smoke, residue, ashes, and or gas. Not only does this make your home a safer place, it also helps our environment as portable electric fireplaces do not consume raw wood fuel and or gas to product heat. A few of  our electric fireplaces from our collection of Dimplex brand fireplaces offer a feature called “Purifire” which is a patented technology within the fireplace insert which filters the air while producing heat and ambient lighting! Traditional fireplaces collect ashes and soot in the chimney that require it to be cleaned periodically, if not the build up of soot and ashes can negatively effect the air quality of your home, you do not run into this issue with portable fireplaces.

The Narita Convertible Espresso Electric Entertainment Center Fireplace is crafted to fit into both flat wall applications and corner applications to give your media room a soothing warmth along with ample storage for media needs.

Ever Wanted Your Fireplace in a Different Room, Location, or Home?

Once a fireplace is installed it is impossible to move it to another room without going through the entire construction process. It is extremely difficult to move traditional fireplaces as often times they are connected to a gas line and or are cemented into the wall of your home, additionally the chimney that was built will have to be relocated as well. With corner electric fireplaces, you not only have the option of moving them from room to room by simply unplugging them, you can maximize the space of any room by putting them flush into any corner. Most if not all of our corner fireplaces feature a collapsible panel in the rear that folds down which allows the unit to sit flush against a wall, and or folds up which allows the unit to sit flush into the corner of a wall.

Portable electric fireplaces require zero venting, and come with a convenient remote control for operating purposes, it’s as easy as moving your TV from room to room! They come in a large variety of beautiful mantels finished in different colors and are available in all shapes and sizes. They are perfect for those that do not want to commit to one look, and are constantly redecorating and or changing their interior decor.

Do You Want a Fireplace Insert that You Can Install Yourself within 15 minutes?

Electric fireplace inserts are extremely easy to assemble and install. All portable fireplaces are shipped complete with a detailed step by step installation guide and assembly can be completed by one adult within fifteen minutes. Once your fireplace is assembled, simply plug the three prong electrical plug into any household electrical outlet and enjoy. Because they do not produce smoke and or sparks, electric fireplaces do not require special construction expertise, ventilation, and or dedicated gas lines.

Is Your Home a Condominium, Apartment, or an RV? 

Saving space is one of the biggest perks of owning a portable fireplace. If your home cannot fit a large sized fireplace, electric fireplace stoves are as small as 16″ in width and feature the same portable features and ambient warmth as the larger models. Electric fireplaces meet strict apartment, condo, and dormitory codes since they do not produce real fire. Certain apartments have strict leasing contracts that will not allow you to own a real fireplace, electric fireplaces are the perfect alternative solution since they are safe and environmentally friendly to operate. You may also want to consider a mantel shelf for your home since it can be mounted above your fireplace and will provide extra storage and display space for family pictures and heirlooms. With technologically advanced electric fireplaces, you can enjoy the realistic warmth of a real fireplace with the touch of a button, consider a portable fireplace today and don’t hesitate to contact us with any product questions or concerns!

There are three reasons why you should consider purchasing an eco-friendly electric fireplace heater.

1) Save Money on Your Energy Bills

Electric fireplaces provide realistic three dimensional flames utilizing state of the art LED technology. That being said the patented flame technology operates at a cost of about three cents per hour. With heat the operating cost will average around ten cents an hour. Traditional wood and gas fireplaces operate at a much higher hourly cost and storage of wood fuel can be costly as it is inconvenient. Implementing zone heating with a portable heater can also play a large role in lowering your energy bill as it minimizes the need to turn up your homes central heating thermostat.

2) Reduce Carbon Footprint

Traditional fireplaces are harmful to the environment in that the raw wood fuel that is used to fuel these fireplaces require trees to be cut down. With new homes on the rise, traditional fireplaces are not helping with deforestation. As deforestation is on the rise, so is the amount of carbon dioxide being released into the air. Electric fireplace logs, feature an extremely realistic glowing ember effect when in action, and also have dancing and flickering LED flames that can be viewed from any angle. These logs that are contained within electric fireplaces can be turned used again and again all year long without requiring real wood fuel and or producing as much carbon dioxide as a traditional fireplace.

3) Zone Heating

By keeping the heat on where and when you need it, you can drastically lower the energy bills for your home. The central heating system for your home is often times controlled by a single thermostat, turning that thermostat on provides heat to the entire home. This is not energy efficient especially when you are the only person at home and only need heat in one room. An electric fireplace can effectively provide heat for a room up to 20 feet by 20 feet without having to turn up the central heating thermostat. Additionally you can conveniently unplug your portable fireplace and move it from room to room as needed.

Outdoors: Dining Table

A lot of people enjoy tabletop fireplaces outdoors, but adding one to your dining area can create a whole new atmosphere. Take into consideration the shape of the table when adding a portable fireplace. For instance, square and circular tables should have a square or circular tabletop fireplace in the middle. Make sure to create contrast (i.e. use circular fireplaces for square tops and vice versa). Rectangular tables will look better with longer, rectangular tabletop fireplaces on them. You can also try dotting long tables with a few at even intervals. Dining outdoors, especially at sunset, becomes an enchanting experience. Give your friends a night, and a meal, to remember!

Indoor: Business Lobby

Your reception area is usually the first impression someone will have with your business. I would estimate that 80% of businesses who go the extra mile to decorate do so with fake plants and a fountain. If you really want to set yourself apart, a handsome, modern tabletop fireplace can make quite the impression. Fire is the opposite, metaphorically, of water. Water is passive an malleable. Fire is powerful, energetic, and captivating. If your workplace competes for contracts or wants to exude a youthful image, tabletop fireplaces are a bold way of improving your look.

Indoor: Bathroom

We have all seen candles in a bathroom, but adding a tabletop fireplace establishes the same effect with a more modern edge. Place it in front of a mirror for double the effect. Similar to how you can judge somone by how well they treat a lowly person, you can judge someone’s tastes by how they decorate the lowly bathroom. Adding sophistication to a room, or a house in general, is all in the details. Portable fireplaces can change any room into a place that extends your chic, contemporary style.

Different cultures have different stories for the origin of fire. None of them really make much sense. I like to think some prehistoric caveman was smart enough to find a reliable way to start and keep the fire going, then shared the secret with his friends. From this clever caveman, we humans have flourished due to this brilliant technological find.

Archaeological expeditions around the globe have found evidence of rudimentary “fireplaces” in the form of fire pits dating back to prehistoric times. Despite the millions of years and technological advances, why we use fireplaces have not changed one bit: To bring people together and keep them warm. The how though, has changed a lot.

Stone age fire pits were nothing more than an area of space where someone could sustain a fire. Fast forward some million years to medieval times, and fireplaces began to appear indoors in the center of rooms with a hole in the ceiling to let out the smoke. The basic elements of the fireplace, the surround and the insert, have not changed since. The surround is the portion of the fireplace that surrounds the insert, where the heat is produced.

Then in the 1600s, Sir Christopher Wren, brilliant architect and the re-designer of St. Paul’s cathedral in London, decided he wanted some style to go with the function. He began designing beautiful fireplaces that matched its surroundings.

In America, Benjamin Franklin invented the Franklin stove in the 1700s. Franklin created the stove out of cast iron which allowed the stove to radiate heat more efficiently. We still utilize stoves in many homes world wide today in the form of electric fireplace stoves.

Then in 1796, Count Rumsford basically perfected the design and developed a fireplace with a shallow opening allowing more heat to reflect into the room and streamlined the chimney by incorporating it into the wall of the house which drew more smoke out of the home. This design was adapted and used all the way up through the 19th century.

The 1950′s introduced ranch style homes which popularized central heating systems and diminished the use of fireplaces. The 70′s had a resurgence of fireplaces due to cost conscious consumers purchasing prefabricated models to warm their homes. The 80′s gave way to the environmental movement and consumers seeking more environmentally friendly and inexpensive solutions in the form of wood burning stoves.

Then in 1988, Dimplex introduced the Optiflame, the first commercial electric fireplace. In 1995, Dimplex added a realistic wood-burning flame effect to their electric fireplaces to create the prototypical electric fireplace we see today. Since then, technologies have advanced to make the electric fireplace more efficient, emit more heat, and become the choice way to warm homes around the world.

Millions of years in technological advances have led us to this invention. From lightning strikes to pressing a button on a remote.
Oh, how far we’ve come!

Photographic Sources and Credits:

http://stoveswood.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/electric-fireplace-heater.jpg

]]> http://www.portablefireplace.com/blog/history-of-fire-to-the-modern-day-electric-fireplace/feed/ 0 http://www.portablefireplace.com/blog/how-much-it-costs-to-run-an-electric-fireplace/ http://www.portablefireplace.com/blog/how-much-it-costs-to-run-an-electric-fireplace/#comments Fri, 29 Jun 2012 01:06:06 +0000 admin http://www.portablefireplace.com/blog/?p=701 The question of whether or not electric fireplaces are actually efficient is one that many people are asking. Obviously, there’s a host of other benefits that are apparent when choosing this type of fireplace to incorporate into the home. It’s the efficiency of the unit that has people really intrigued.

Without anything to compare it to, it’s hard to quantify just how efficient they are. Obviously, these things will change from home to home. No two homes are built alike, nor the amount of efficiency that the home provides. Things like properly sealed windows, doorways, and other air pathways can all make a difference on how well a home is heated.

The most efficient type of fireplace is a real one. These come with other real costs associated with them as well. There’s the cost of installing the chimney, and these are not cheap. These chimneys also need to be swept frequently to remove any soot. There’s also a toll it will take on the room that’s supplying the hearth in the first place. Fireplaces can kick out a pretty intoxicating stench, and is a chore to clean after being used. One thing can be said about them, however, is how efficient they are.

Alternatively, there’s gas fireplaces that people can choose for their heating purposes. Gas is incredibly expensive these days. Putting fire to anything gas, leaves most people with a sense of uneasiness, and regardless of how safe they claim to be.

The electric fireplace, however, offers a unique perspective on heating the house. It’s estimated that these units will cost anywhere from a couple of pennies up to seven cents per hour they are used. Homeowners can work this number down even further operating the unit in a zone heating capacity. What this does is alleviate the excessive energy being used to maintain temperatures in rooms that are hardly even utilized. By controlling the zone temperature with an electric fireplace this will cut energy costs down tremendously.

There’s other benefits to consider here as well. The electric fireplaces can be quite soothing all around. Unlike the wood burning fireplaces, they don’t invade the senses like the former does. Homeowners are also glad to have them for their easy upkeep. There’s nothing to clean, and no burnt carpet from embers flying off the wood. There’s no ventilation, puncturing walls, or any other costly procedures just to have a nice looking fireplace in the home.

In the end, it’s up to the home owner to decide what the practical solution is for them. Electric fireplaces offer comfort, flexibility, and esthetically pleasing scenery. Coupled with the fact that it’s extremely efficient makes this a solid choice all around.

]]> http://www.portablefireplace.com/blog/how-much-it-costs-to-run-an-electric-fireplace/feed/ 0 http://www.portablefireplace.com/blog/do-electric-fireplaces-really-work/ http://www.portablefireplace.com/blog/do-electric-fireplaces-really-work/#comments Mon, 25 Jun 2012 06:45:20 +0000 admin http://www.portablefireplace.com/blog/?p=691 Staying warm can be done efficiently, affordably and with a little ambiance through the use of an electric fireplace. It is a common misconception that electric fireplaces do not generate heat; most models produce about 5,000 BTU’s of heat, while others can produce up to 10,000 BTU’s. While this is not enough to heat an entire house, it will allow the thermostat to be turned down, which allows heat to be generated and enjoyed in the room most often occupied.

An electric fireplace is comparable to an electric heater but has more style and flair. The heating element is called an electric resistor, which allows electric current to be converted from electric energy into heat energy. The heating element warms up automatically once the fireplace is plugged in, providing instant warmth.

Settings on an electric fireplace can vary how the heat is transferred; an internal fan is capable of spreading the warmth across a room up to 400 square feet in size. The design of an electric fireplace ensures that none of the heat is lost, as the fan distributes all of the heat produced by the resistor. The blower motor fan is virtually silent, which allows for an even cozier atmosphere. Controls on most models are hidden, preserving the look of a real fireplace. Some units even include a remote control, which allows easy use from across the room. Some of the benefits of using an electric fireplace include:

• No need to purchase or chop wood

• No need to clean the fireplace

• No need for a chimney or gas line

• No need to clean a chimney or flue

• No harmful emissions

• No fear of fire damage or injuries associated with traditional gas or wood burning fireplaces

• No remodeling required as with a gas or wood burning fireplace installation

• No allergies instigated by burning wood

• No wasted time starting a fire as heat is automatically generated with the flip of a switch

• Electric fireplaces are portable, allowing ease of transport if relocation is necessary

The cost of using an electric fireplace is similar to that of using an electric heater. In the long run, using an electric fireplace allows decreased dependence on a furnace and allows more efficient use of energy. These benefits, combined with the elegant look and feel of realistic flames, make an electric fireplace a sensible option for creating a warm, and relaxed living space.