The Science Behind Artificial Flame Technology

If you are thinking about getting an electric fireplace, but you’d like to know a lot more about how their visual effects work and how realistic they are, this guide is for you. We will cover everything that is great about electric fireplaces, what types are good, how artificial flames technology works, and brand tips to help keep your eyes peeled.

Below Is a List of All of The Items That Are Going To Be Covered in This Post:

• When It Comes To a Fireplace For Your Home, Do You Need To Hire an Interior Designer or Is This an Interior Design Home Decor Decision That You Can Figure Out For Yourself? – All about whether you need a designer or not in regards to choosing electric fireplaces.
  
• What Are All of The Problems With Using a Wood Burning or Gas Fireplace In Your Home? – For people on the fence, here we highlight issues you’ll commonly find with wood and gas fireplaces.
  
• What Are The Advantages of Using an Electric Fireplace With Artificial Fireplace Flames That Look Like a Real Fire Over a Fireplace With a Real Flame In The Living Room? – We list all of the benefits and advantages of fireplaces that are electric.
  
• What Electric Fireplace Categories With Artificial Fireplace Flames Are Available For a New Home or Home Remodel, Which Types Are Best, and Which Types Should You Just Avoid Completely? – Comparing types of electric fireplaces to point you in the right direction.
  
• How Does The Flame Technology For Artificial Fireplace Flames in an Electric Fireplace For Your Home? – We go into detail about some of the different technology options for fire visual effects in faux fireplaces.
  
• Does The Fire Flame of an Electric Faux Fireplace Produce a Lot of Flame Light With a Good Flame Color? – All about the fireplace glow.
  
• Does a Log Set or Fireplace Logs That Look Like Real Wood In The Firebox of Electric Fireplaces Help The Flame Effect or Fire Effect Appear More Realistic? – All about logs inside of the fireplace.
  
• Does a Dimplex Electric Fireplace Like a Dimplex Opti Myst Produce a Realistic Flame or Does It Still Look Like a Fake Flame? – We talk a bit about one 3D fire option.
  
• Do Electric Fireplaces That Produce a Crackling Sound Help Add To The Overall Fireplace Ambiance? – We discuss the benefits of audio included with electric fireplaces.
  
• Are Generic Electric Fireplace Brands on Amazon Worth The Money or Should You Only Buy High-Quality Electric Fireplaces From Trusted Brands? – Here is all about brands and buying electric fireplaces just because of the price.
  
• How Much Square Feet Can a Fireplace Heater in Electric Fireplaces Usually Keep Warm If You Buy From a Trusted Quality Brand Instead of a Generic Brand? – This will cover the heating ability of most electric fireplaces.
  
• Which Brand of Electric Fireplace Has The Most Realistic 3D Flame, Efficiently Powerful Heating, and Log Crackle Sounds? – We highlight everything that comes with one of the complete electric fireplace brands on the market.

When It Comes To a Fireplace For Your Home, Do You Need To Hire an Interior Designer or Is This an Interior Design Home Decor Decision That You Can Figure Out For Yourself?

As long as you are matching the style of the fireplace you install with the overall style of your home decorating, you don’t need to consult with any kind of designer. For instance, you would want a fireplace with a mantel that has clean, strong lines for a modern minimalist style rather than a fireplace with a faux stone look to it. Similarly, you might want rich, natural wood grains in the mantel of a fireplace for a more rural, modern farmhouse kind of look. As long as you match the style correctly, you don’t need a designer to help you pick a fireplace any more than you need to hire an architect or a professional home builder because you feel like removing the carpet and refinishing the wood floor.

That being said, there are tons of guides and examples you can find online to choose the perfect style for the fireplace you are considering for your home. This can give you ideas for additional projects you might want to include along with your fireplace.

What Are All of The Problems With Using a Wood Burning or Gas Fireplace In Your Home?

To begin, these are the main types of wood fireplaces you’ll find in homes:

• Open Hearth
• Enclosed
• Enclosed Insert
• Wood Stove
• Fire Pit

While wood fireplaces were the only option several decades ago, here are all of the issues with them:

• Fire Safety – Wood fireplaces are a big fire hazard due to open flames and chimney soot building up.
  
• Harmful Emissions – Emissions such as smoke and carbon monoxide will get into your home and are dangerous.
  
• Hassle To Use – There is a lot of work that goes into using and maintaining wood fireplaces.
  
• Heat Loss Problem – Heat will always end up escaping through the chimney, making them inefficient.
  
• Smell – The smell of smoke will inevitably get into your home and will linger for several days after fireplace use.
  
• Stains – Smoke also has the unfortunate tendency to yellow walls and leave stains around your home.
  
• TV Damage – You can’t mount a TV up above wood fireplaces without ruining it from rising heat and smoke.
  
• Wood Storage – All of the wood that you will be using for burning will require a lot of storage.
  
• Expensive To Build – Building a new fireplace that burns wood will cost a lot if it is even allowed in your region.

Some people choose gas fireplaces as an alternative to burning wood. The two main types are:

• Direct Vented
• Ventless

Unfortunately for homeowners, there are issues with gas fireplaces as well:

• Flame Is Exposed – Because gas fireplaces have exposed flames, they are still a significant fire hazard in your home.
  
• Carbon Monoxide – Smoke isn’t as common, but carbon monoxide is still an issue you have to think about.
  
• Ugly Flame Colors – Colors of gas fireplaces are either too duel or weird, bright neon blue.
  
• Weak Flame – Even with gas logs that are sometimes present to help them flicker more realistically, they often look very weak. Even with an adjustable flame, they mostly just look like a row of Bunsen burners.
  
• Costly Installation – Professionals will need to be hired since gas fireplaces have to be installed perfectly for safety.

What Are The Advantages of Using an Electric Fireplace With Artificial Fireplace Flames That Look Like a Real Fire Over a Fireplace With a Real Flame In The Living Room?

Here are all of the reasons you should only choose electric fireplaces for your indoor fireplace needs:

• No Added Fire Risk – There is no extra risk of starting a fire with electric fireplaces.
  
• No Harmful Emissions – Electric fireplaces don’t produce emissions like smoke or carbon monoxide because nothing is burning.

• Using it is Easy – They are the easiest fireplaces to use. Turn it on and enjoy it.
  
• No Staining or Smells – Because smoke isn’t present, neither are smoke stains or smoke smells.
  
• Easy Installing – For most electric fireplaces, it is a simple DIY installation. Find a spot for the fireplace and plug it into a wall outlet.
  
• Apartments and Condos – You can put them in apartments and condos, even if you are renting.
  
• Any Room – You can choose to put them within any room of your house, not just the main room.
  
• TV Safe – Since there is no smoke and heat are blown towards the center of the room, they’re safe to mount a TV above the mantel.
  
• Heat Efficiency – With no chimney and a high-end electric fireplace, they warm home while using little electricity.
  
• Supplemental Zone Heating – For large homes, you can still save money on heating by setting up zone heating.
  
• Remote Control – One will usually come with a remote so you don’t have to get up in order to control it.

What Electric Fireplace Categories With Artificial Fireplace Flames Are Available For a New Home or Home Remodel, Which Types Are Best, and Which Types Should You Just Avoid Completely?

Not all types of fireplaces are for every situation. Here are the different types, which you might want, and which you need to stay away from:

• Flat Wall Mantel Package – These are the type of fireplace that looks most like a traditional one. They do an excellent job heating.
  
• Corner Fireplace – One of these will function no differently than flat wall units, but it is designed to save space in the corner.
  
• TV Stand Fireplace – While these save space by combining a fireplace with a TV stand, the fireplace can sometimes be weaker. Buy with caution.
  
• Corner TV Stand Fireplace – Although these save a lot of space, they are actually usually even worse than the normal TV stand fireplaces.
  
• MagikFlame Modern Wall-Mounted Electric Fireplace – A wall-mount fireplace will allow you to hang it on the wall or install it directly into a recessed wall so that it sits flush.

• Electric Fireplace Insert – An electric fireplace insert can convert traditional fireplaces into electric ones, or they can be used with a third party or custom-built mantel.
  
• Freestanding Fireplace Heaters – These basic space heaters are often flameless when it comes to their effects and also work poorly as electric heaters. Avoid these, even if they are a simple electric log type.
  
• Electric Fireplace Stove – For people that like a rural aesthetic, these are made to look like a traditional wood stove. However, these look out of place in many modern homes.

How Does The Flame Technology For Artificial Fireplace Flames in an Electric Fireplace For Your Home?

Artificial flame can be produced in many different ways when it comes to electric fireplaces. How good the technology that produces these flames is usually dependent on the brand you buy and sometimes even the specific model of that brand.

The cheapest brands will use some simple light bulbs or an LED light on a spinning cylinder to very poorly mimic the flickering lights of a flame. Beyond that, you start getting into the 2D flame simulation in the form of basic 2D LED flames or even a looping video of a fireplace. The real problem with many of these methods is that they look completely fake due to their 2D nature.

Going into the 3D territory, you have things like the Opti-Myst by Dimplex that projects light onto streams of vapor. At the highest end of realism, you have something like a MagikFlame fireplace that uses Holoflame technology to project 3D flames onto physical logs that sit inside of the fireplace.

Does The Fire Flame of an Electric Faux Fireplace Produce a Lot of Flame Light With a Good Flame Color?

With higher-end models, you can get a beautiful warm glow just like a traditional fireplace. This makes them look incredibly inviting at night when the warm glow of the fireplace is the main light source for a cozy room. Of course, how good the glow is will heavily depend on the brand and model of the electric fireplace that you select.

Does a Log Set or Fireplace Logs That Look Like Real Wood In The Firebox of Electric Fireplaces Help The Flame Effect or Fire Effect Appear More Realistic?

You usually find these laying over a glowing ember bed inside of some electric fireplaces. These absolutely help add to the realism and atmosphere of the fireplace. It can make it look much more like a traditional open hearth-style fireplace instead of a simple screen with basic flames like some generic electric fireplaces.

Does a Dimplex Electric Fireplace Like a Dimplex Opti Myst Produce a Realistic Flame or Does It Still Look Like a Fake Flame?

While the 3D flames are definitely a step in the right direction compared to many of the electric fireplaces on the market that instead use very basic 2D options, the Opti-Myst can still look quite fake in comparison to some higher-end models. Fireplaces that use Holoflame technology like MagikFlame HoloFlame electric fireplaces will always still look the most realistic.

Do Electric Fireplaces That Produce a Crackling Sound Help Add To The Overall Fireplace Ambiance?

Having the additional sound of the snaps and crackles of burning logs certainly adds a lot of realism to the entire fireplace experience. It promotes a relaxing atmosphere. With a realistic-looking fire and the soothing sound of logs that are crackling, you may actually be quite surprised that many of your guests won’t even realize it is a fake fireplace. They will instead think it is real.

Are Generic Electric Fireplace Brands on Amazon Worth The Money or Should You Only Buy High-Quality Electric Fireplaces From Trusted Brands?

You should really avoid generic fireplaces at all costs. This includes not only ones you see listed for giant online retailers, but also whatever sales are going on down at your local big box retail stores. The problem with many of these models is that despite the price, you are left with a very cheap fireplace that isn’t able to heat very well, has flames that don’t look very realistic at all, and won’t last very long.

When people purchase these cheap models, they often end up spending a lot more in the long run due to higher heating bills, repairs of the fireplace, and eventual replacement. If homeowners instead focused on getting a fireplace from the beginning that is higher quality and reliable from a trusted brand, they would actually spend less in the long run. Their heating bills will be lower and their fireplace would last several times longer without the need for any kind of repairs or replacements. On top of all of this, the fireplace itself will simply look much better in the home, so you can be proud of it compared to generic ones that look cheap and tacky.

How Much Square Feet Can a Fireplace Heater in Electric Fireplaces Usually Keep Warm If You Buy From a Trusted Quality Brand Instead of a Generic Brand?

This heavily depends on the brand and model of the fireplace that you choose to go with. For some of the absolutely best models of electric fireplaces on the market, you are looking at it being able to warm an area of 1,000 square feet. For most small to medium-sized homes, apartments, and condos, this is more than enough.

Luckily, even if someone has a very large home, they still enjoy electric fireplaces by setting up a zone heating solution. This means they set up two or more fireplaces around their home in zones, depending on the size of the home. You keep all of the doors closed between zones when zones aren’t being used. You only turn on fireplaces in the zones that are occupied. This way, you can successfully warm your home as you use it, while keeping your heating bill much lower, closer to what small homes would cost.

Which Brand of Electric Fireplace Has The Most Realistic 3D Flame, Efficiently Powerful Heating, and Log Crackle Sounds?

The best electric fireplace to be the centerpiece of your home is the MagikFlame large fireplace. Here are all of the amazing features that come with every single model of fireplace that they have:

• Ultrarealistic 3D Fire Effects – The Holoflame technology means that MagikFlame fireplaces easily have the most realistic fire that you will see in an electric fireplace. They have 30 different styles of flames that you can toggle between, to set your own mood. All of the flames move, flicker, and spark off embers.
  
• Crackling Log Sounds – The sound of burning wood is included as an audio enhancement with MagikFlame fireplaces in order to make the atmosphere even more realistic. In addition, there are also some sounds of nature that can be played for some extra relaxation.
  
• 5,200 BTU Heater – The heater inside of MagikFlame uses infrared quartz heating coils to quickly, powerfully, and efficiently, heat your home. Enjoy the warmth of your fireplace while keeping those heating bills nice and low.
  
• Smartphone App – Instead of remote control, you can control your MagikFlame fireplace with a helpful application that can be installed on your tablet or smartphone device. With it, you can control the thermostat, styles of flickering flames, and more.