Fake fire chases chills, cuts bills

MINNEAPOLIS — Jerry Prokes of Lakeville, Minn., didn’t hold back when he described an electric fireplace as looking like “a piece of junk.” The plastic nodules meant to convey white landscape rocks or white-hot coals looked kitschy at best.

But Prokes is no purist who insists on a wood-burning fireplace. He recently bought a different electric model for $400 at a home store with a cherry mantel that he’s satisfied with. “From a distance, the flames look real,” he says.

Fireplaces feed the need to take the chill off, but adding a gas or wood-burning chimney to a house can easily cost $3,000 or more. Electric models with built-in space heaters supply some of the ambience and as much heat as the real thing - for a fraction of the cost. In these turbulent economic times, “plug and play” fireplaces have become a hot commodity for people who want an attractive, lower-cost option to the real thing.

Electrics solve several issues. Venting is never a problem because a glorified space heater doesn’t require venting. And calling an electrician isn’t necessary. With the illusion of a flame created by a simple incandescent or LED light bulb and the warmth coming from a 1,500-watt heater, only a three prong plug-in is needed.

Plus placement is flexible because all models are portable and fairly shallow in depth (12 to 15 inches), whether it’s a small stove heater or a 72-inch long fireplace media center.

While most people buy the electric models for the coziness factor, some customers claim they’ve saved money by turning down the house thermostat and warming only the room they’re in. However, Consumer Reports magazine reports that turning the thermostat to below 60 degrees and heating only one room isn’t practical for most homeowners because they move from room to room frequently. In addition, electricity costs twice as much as natural gas, says Tom Hoen, an Xcel Energy spokesman.

To their credit, electric fireplaces are safer than most space heaters. A large electric fireplace is much less likely to be overturned. And wood-burning fireplaces can be environmentally and physically harmful. The American Lung Association cites wood stoves and fireplaces as major contributors to particulate-matter air pollution in much of the United States.