How Does a Duraflame Fireplace Compare to A MagikFlame Fireplace?

While many areas of the US don’t have the ability to build wood fireplaces into new homes because of common safety issues with them, some people already have existing wood fireplaces in their homes or are buying a home that already has a wood fireplace inside of it.

While there is always a fun sense of nostalgia for wood fireplaces, they certainly have many safety and other concerns to think about. Some people use fire-starting logs to help with both safety issues and to help start a fire faster. However, are these logs really that great compared to a safer, more efficient electric fireplace? In this article, we are going to compare many of the features, benefits, and downsides of both wood fireplaces that use specialty duraflame fireplaces them and electric fireplaces.

What Are The Different Types of Wood Fireplaces Where You Might Use Duraflame Fireplace or Other Firelighters?

There are many types of wood fireplaces but they can generally be broken down into these main types of fireplaces:

• Open Hearth Fireplace – This is the classic fireplace. This is a fireplace opening with a hearth floor that is either flush or raised. Inside of the firebox will be a grate for the wood and you usually put a screen in front of the opening after you’ve built the fire. There is a flue and a chimney for harmful contaminants to be vented out of the home.
  
  
• Enclosed Fireplace – This kind of fireplace is almost identical to the standard open hearth fireplaces except in one defining way: they are enclosed so that the fire is blocked from the room. Instead of the flames being directly exposed, heat vents are used. This makes the fireplace slightly more efficient and safe.
  
  
• Fireplace Insert – A fireplace insert is when you have an open hearth-style fireplace but you want one that is enclosed. These inserts fit directly into the opening and into the firebox.
  
  
• Wood Stoves – These are metal stoves that burn wood and have a venting pipe instead of a traditional chimney. As wood burns inside of them, the stove itself radiates heat and is burning to the touch. The top is flat so that you can do some basic cooking on top. These are common in cabins and very rural farmhouses, but they aren’t frequently found in most modern homes.
  
  
• Fire Pit – For outdoor use, these fire pits bring the novelty of camping to your backyard. You can find these as raised tables for added safety instead of being built directly into the ground.

What Are The Downsides To Using Wood Fireplaces With Duraflame Firelogs?

There are a lot of downsides to wood fireplaces. They are:

• Home Fire Hazard – Burning wood in a fireplace always adds a risk to starting a house fire. The exposed flame is already quite dangerous, but the soot buildup inside of the chimney can be even more dangerous. As this soot builds up, the fire from your own fireplace can ignite it and start a massive fire that will spread to the rest of your home. This is why you need to have professional chimney sweeps clean out your fireplace many times per year. The house fire danger is one of the main reasons that wood fireplaces are rarely allowed to be built in new homes these days.
  
  
• Emissions – There are several things that are released from an incomplete burn of the wood in your fireplace. Smoke inhalation can already be dangerous, but carbon monoxide poisoning is also a very real risk.
  
  
• Hassle – There is so much work that goes into the maintenance and use of wood fireplaces. Before even building your fire you have to clean out all of that leftover ash from the fire you had the day before. Then, you have to split wood from your wood pile if it isn’t already split. After that, you need to build the fire, keep an eye on it so it doesn’t get out of hand, and put new logs to stoke the flames whenever it begins to die down.
  
  
• Smell – While the smell of burning wood might be a nostalgic experience when you are camping, it isn’t a smell that you want lingering inside of your home throughout the colder months of the year. When you have fires regularly burning, the smell seeps into your clothes, your furniture, your carpet, and even your hair. You may get used to the smell, but when you leave your home, people will still smell it on you.
  
  
• Stains – All that smoke causes a lot of stains over time as well. If you have light-colored walls, light-colored furniture, or light-colored curtains, expect them all to yellow and stain over time.
  
  
• TV Damage – The smoke and heat from you fireplace means you can’t hang a TV above the fireplace’s mantle. If you do so, the TV will permanently stop working and this damage won’t be covered by the TVs warranty because the owner’s manual will specifically tell you not to mount them above fireplaces.
  
  
• Heat Efficiency – Wood fireplaces are inefficient with heat in two major ways. The biggest way is that these fireplaces require ventilation. As smoke escapes from the chimney, large amounts of heat escape along with it. On top of this, to keep a strong flame, you usually need to crack a window so the fire has a steady stream of air. Cracking a window like this also allows cold air back into a room. Because of both of these things, you have to burn a lot of wood just to keep a home mildly warm.
  
  
• Pricing of Burning Fire Log – If you are using fire starting logs frequently, these can start to get quite pricey, especially when you are adding it onto the already expensive wood pile deliveries for people that don’t have their own forest as their backyard.

What Other Things Should You Be Aware of Involving Duraflame Fireplaces?

While wood fireplaces in general have their issues, there are a lot of upsides to using these kinds of logs. There are many different types of logs. There are indoor/outdoor firelogs, campfire roasting logs that are good for marshmallows or BBQ products in an outdoor fireplace, and more. New product logs are released from time to time for an enhanced fire experience. Duraflame 4.5 pound logs have a long burn time. Because firelogs burn longer, you can burn less material to keep an area warm. These logs are made from renewable materials like agricultural fibers and sawdust. This allows them to release fewer pollutants compared to real wood kindling and wood logs, all while producing robust flames. They don’t have as much carbon monoxide like a comparable wood fire.

These logs are made in the USA, are produced in a UL-listed factory, and have a good safety classification due to being a Chimney Safety Institute of America accepted product. Firelogs light quickly and it is this fast-lighting that results in them being used to simply start a fire rather than being the sole fuel source for a fireplace.

What Kinds of Electric Fireplaces Can You Get?

There are several types of electric fireplaces to meet different needs:

• Flat Wall Fireplace Mantel Package – This is for people that want a classic fireplace look against a flat wall. These come with a fireplace and mantle and tend to look the most traditional.
  
  
• Corner Fireplace – This is a unit that is functionally the same as the flat wall version above except it is made to fit inside of a corner fireplace. This helps saves space by having the fireplace a little more out of the way.
  
  
• Flat Wall TV Stand Fireplace – This is a standard-looking TV stand except it has an electric fireplace built into it. These are used to reduce the number of furniture items you need, allowing you to save some space.
  
  
• Corner TV Stand Fireplace – These are TV stand fireplace combo that is built for a corner. While a normal TV stand fireplace might be okay, once you get into these corner sizes with all the shelving and other features, you may see a reduction in size and quality of the actual fireplace inside.
  
  
• Wall Mounted Fireplace – These are fireplaces that can be mounted on the wall like a flat-screen TV. These fireplaces can also be installed into recessed walls for a more modern and sharp look. Some of these are very wide like a linear fireplace that runs the width of an entire wall.
  
  
• Electric Fireplace Insert – These inserts are for anyone that already has a wood fireplace but wants to switch it into an electric fireplace to make it safer, cheaper to run, and easier to use. These inserts go directly into the existing fireplace opening to convert them.
  
  
• Freestanding Fireplace – These space heaters are portable and made to look like fireplaces. They tend to not work very well, have poor flame effects, and look tacky. You should usually avoid this type of electric fireplace.
  
  
• Electric Stove – For people that want a wood stove look, but in an electric model, they would install one of these. These aren’t common in modern homes, but you may see them in rural farmhouses or cabins.

What Are The Benefits of an Electric Fireplace Over a Fireplace That Uses Duraflame Logs?

There are plenty of benefits of electric fireplaces that make them a great choice over wood fireplaces:

• No Fire Present – Since there are no flames involved with electric fireplaces, there is no increased risk of you starting a house fire.
  
  
• No Smoke – No smoke means you don’t have to worry about inhaling any harmful contaminants.
  
  
• No Smell – No smoke also means you don’t have to worry about any bad smell lingering throughout your home or getting into your furniture.
  
  
• No Stain – No smoke also means that you don’t risk yellowing your walls or light colored furniture and curtains.
  
  
• Easy To Use – Electric fireplaces are much easier to use than wood fireplaces. Once you turn them on and pick your heat settings, you sit back and let it do the rest. It will automatically adjust the heat output to fit your desired temperature.
  
  
• Heat Efficiency – With no ventilation for heat loss and a quality infrared quartz heating coil, you can expect massive savings on your heating bill when using high end electric fireplaces.
  
  
• TV Safe – It is perfectly safe if you want to mount a flat screen TV right above your fireplace. All the heat of the fireplace is blown directly outward towards the room.
  
  
• Easy To Install – Electric fireplaces are primarily devices that you just sit down and plug in. The install is usually quite effortless.
  
  
• Use In Any Room – You aren’t limited to just the main room with electric fireplaces. Anywhere with a wall and an outlet will do.
  
  
• Realistic Flames – With high end holographic electric fireplaces, you can have flame effects that actually look like the real thing so you won’t miss a wood fireplace at all.

Are Electric Fireplaces Better Than Wood Fireplaces That Use Firestarters?

While wood fireplaces are nice and give us a good sense of nostalgia, these are quite dangerous and difficult to use, even with the help of fire starting logs. Because of the quality of some high end fireplaces, you can get all of the atmosphere, warmth, and realistic flame to look at with an electric fireplace, without all of the numerous problems that come with wood fireplaces. This is one of the main reasons you should always choose a high quality electric fireplace over a wood fireplace. They can actually be better than the real thing.

If you don’t already have a fireplace, you can get a wonderful electric fireplace mantel package for your home. If you already have a wood fireplace and don’t want to see it go to waste, simply buy a fireplace insert that you can put inside of it.

Which Electric Fireplace Should I Get?

There are plenty of decent electric fireplace brands on the market. However, if you want an authentic experience that feels like a real fireplace is in your home, you need to invest in a MagikFlame fireplace. Here are all the reasons people tend to love MagikFlame fireplaces:

• Ultra-Premium Fireplace Ambiance – 30 different flames can be chosen to simulate a real fire. While many electric fireplaces barely do a passable job with their fireplace imitation, MagikFlame can perfectly replicate 3D flickering flames with their Holoflame technology. Holographic 3D flames are projected onto the physical log set you can find inside of the MagikFlame electric firebox.
  
  
• Crackling Log Sounds – Adding to the visuals is a wonderful audio component. When you use MagikFlame fireplaces, you can hear the crackling of log sounds that elevate the immersion far beyond what many electric fireplaces provide.
  
  
• 5,200 BTU Heater – The heater inside of MagikFlame fireplaces used convection heating with infrared quartz. As cool air is sucked from the room and passes through the fireplace, the infrared quartz immediately makes that air warm and it is blown back into the room. This continuous cycle of cold to warm air means that once you turn on a MagikFlame fireplace, you will feel it pushing out warm air almost instantly. The room can be warmed quickly and because there is no ventilation necessary, the heat stays in the room, allowing the fireplace to be very energy efficient. MagikFlame electric fireplaces can warm most houses, homes, and apartments. If you need to warm an area larger than 1,000 square feet, you can purchase an additional MagikFlame for another zone of the house and save even more money on your heating bill when you only use a fireplace in an area that is occupied.