Best Electric Fireplaces

If realism is the priority, the Dimplex Revillusion RLG25 is the flame to beat. Instead of a flat screen behind the logs, Dimplex projects the fire from inside the resin-cast logs, producing larger, brighter, more random flames that owners say genuinely read as wood-burning. It slots into an existing firebox and adds a 5,118 BTU heater for up to 400 square feet. The price is steep and a few quirks (flames tied to the heater, some screen reflection) keep it from perfect, but nothing else here looks this convincing.

The Touchstone Chesmont is the design-forward pick: a 50-inch wall-hanging fireplace with a floating mantel and a genuine three-sided flame view that wraps around the front and both sides. It carries six flame colors and a 10-color media bed, plus the same smart-home control as Touchstone's Sideline line. It is supplemental heat (about 400 sq ft) and the mantel makes it a statement piece rather than a disappear-into-the-wall unit, but for a focal-point install it looks the part.

The Duraflame 3D Infrared Quartz stove is the value pick of the category: a freestanding, plug-in-and-go unit with a genuinely convincing layered 3D flame and an infrared heater that warms a room without the dry-air feeling of a fan-forced coil. Family Handyman tested it and felt the heat within 30 minutes. It cannot match a big wall fireplace's flame size, but for supplemental warmth and cozy ambiance at around $230 it is the easiest recommendation here.

The Westinghouse 50 is the budget smart wall fireplace that punches above its price. For around $399 it offers up to 144 flame-and-ember color combinations - more than any other unit here - plus Alexa/Google control, a thermostat, a 24-hour timer, and both log and crystal media sets. Its 5,110 BTU heater is squarely supplemental, and it has fewer deep expert reviews than the Touchstone line, but on features-per-dollar it is the value play for a wall install.