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Head-to-head · Best Electric Fireplaces

PuraFlame Western 33-inch Electric Fireplace Insert vs Touchstone Sideline 50-inch (80004)

Which is the better buy? Side-by-side on rating, price, strengths, and watch-outs — with the published ratings we averaged to get there.

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The short answer

Touchstone Sideline 50-inch (80004) comes out ahead by a narrow margin (4.4 vs 4.6). The gap is mostly about homeowners framing a permanent media wall who want a flush recessed fireplace with working app and voice control — read the strengths below before deciding.

PuraFlame Western 33-inch Electric Fireplace Insert
Ranked #4 in Best Electric Fireplaces
PuraFlame Western 33-inch Electric Fireplace Insert
3 sourcesall derived$389.99

Two publications independently gave this insert their realism award, which is unusual in a category where most units are judged on features. Bob Vila calls it the most realistic of nine picks; Forbes Vetted makes it best realistic and puts the reason plainly — the three-sided brick, the glass front trim, the burned logs on a grate and the crackling audio. It is an open-hearth design rather than a closed one, four inches taller than PuraFlame's Klaus at the same width, and it drops into a masonry firebox using handles on the body. Consumer Reports has it in its tested fireplace database, though the score sits behind a membership wall.

Strengths
  • — Named most realistic by Bob Vila and best realistic by Forbes Vetted, the only unit here to take that award from two publications
  • — Three-sided interior brick wall and glass front trim behind faux burned logs resting on a grate
  • — Carry handles on the body so a single person can lower it into a wood-burning firebox
Watch-outs
  • — Bob Vila reports that some users have run into installation difficulties
  • — Cannot be hardwired, so Forbes Vetted's advice is literally to hide the cord
  • — Forbes Vetted lists "Heats small spaces" as a con — the rating is 400 square feet or less
$389.99 · Check Price on AmazonFull review →
Touchstone Sideline 50-inch (80004)
Higher ratedRanked #1 in Best Electric Fireplaces
Touchstone Sideline 50-inch (80004)
2 sources1 derived$549

The Sideline 50 is the recessed Touchstone that turns up in more editorial round-ups than any other electric fireplace, and the reason is the front heat vent: it exhausts through the face of the unit, so the frame can sit flush in a framed opening without a clearance gap. This Old House scores it 4.7 out of 5 and makes it their overall pick; Reviewed likes that it stays cool on the back and sides so it can live inside a wall cavity. The heater is a 1,500W coil with a blower rated at 5,000 BTU and about 400 square feet, and both publications are blunt that it will not warm a large room. What you are buying is a permanent architectural element with working app and voice control, not a heat source.

Strengths
  • — Front-mounted heat vent lets the frame sit flush in the wall instead of needing a clearance gap above it
  • — Three flame colours across five intensity levels plus a separately switched ten-colour ember bed, published as thirty combinations
  • — Wi-Fi app control with Amazon Alexa and Google Home certification, plus an included infrared remote
Watch-outs
  • — The 1,500W coil heater is rated at 5,000 BTU for about 400 square feet, which Touchstone itself describes as supplemental only
  • — Reviewed lists "Won't heat a large space" as a con and This Old House logged buyers who called the heater ineffective
  • — This Old House also records a finicky remote among owner complaints
$549 · Check Price on AmazonFull review →

Derived means the reviewer published no score, so one was inferred from their written verdict. Everything else is a number the publisher printed. How we rank.

How they stack up

PuraFlame Western 33-inch Electric Fireplace Insert

The same width as the PuraFlame Klaus 33-inch Electric Fireplace Insert but roughly four inches taller, trading the Klaus's glass doors and mesh curtain for an open hearth that reads as the more convincing fire of the two. Like the Klaus it needs an existing opening, which is the opposite of what the Touchstone Sideline 50-inch (80004) and the Touchstone Sideline Elite 50-inch (80036) are built for.

Touchstone Sideline 50-inch (80004)

Runs the same coil heater and the same room rating as the Touchstone Sideline Elite 50-inch (80036) for considerably less money, giving up the Elite's slimmer frame, driftwood media and wider colour menu. Unlike the PuraFlame Klaus 33-inch Electric Fireplace Insert and the PuraFlame Western 33-inch Electric Fireplace Insert it is designed to be framed into a stud wall rather than dropped into an existing firebox.

Specs side-by-side

SpecPuraFlame Western 33-inch Electric Fireplace InsertTouchstone Sideline 50-inch (80004)
TypeFirebox insert, freestanding or wall-mountRecessed or surface wall-mount
Heating Power750W / 1,500W fan heater1,500W coil heater with blower
CoverageUp to 400 sq ftUp to 400 sq ft
Flame Effect3 settings, variable intensity and brightness3 colours, 5 intensity levels, 10-colour ember bed
Sound6 crackling tracks—
InteriorThree-sided brick liner, resin log on a grate—
FrontGlass front trim, open hearth—
ControlsRemote control, heat-off flame modeWi-Fi app, Alexa, Google Home, IR remote
Dimensions35.04" W x 26.99" H x 8.78" D50 3/8" W x 21 1/2" H x 5 1/2" D
Weight46.74 lb59 lb
Heat Output—5,000 BTU
Timer—30 minutes to 7.5 hours
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