Electric Fireplace

Little Bill

Little Bill

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Location
Tennessee NEC:2017
Occupation
Semi-Retired Electrician
Would you consider an electric fireplace insert fixed in place space heating, or a space heater at all? Some are just decorative, or for ambiance.
 
Mine is not fixed in place, but rather is part of a TV stand. It plugs into a standard receptacle. It's on right now, and is doing a goog job of heating the living area. So I would say yes and yes to your two questions.
 
Little Bill said:
Mainly just trying to see if it would be considered a continuous load.
Click to expand...
I would say no. Mine cycles the heat on and off every few minutes, while the artificial flames (a light show that uses almost no power) is on constantly.
 
I'd imagine a small gas / propane or wood pellet fireplace / insert delivers about 20k BTU/h ~= 6kW of electric resistance heat equivalent to a room.
If I were replacing a supplemental room 'fireplace' heater and switching the fuel to electric my guess is you'd want at least a 3kW electric resistance heater/fireplace, presumably there would be ductless mini-split or some other primary heat source.
 
tortuga said:
I'd imagine a small gas / propane or wood pellet fireplace / insert delivers about 20k BTU/h ~= 6kW of electric resistance heat equivalent to a room.
If I were replacing a supplemental room 'fireplace' heater and switching the fuel to electric my guess is you'd want at least a 3kW electric resistance heater/fireplace, presumably there would be ductless mini-split or some other primary heat source.
Click to expand...
25A @120VAC
 
Little Bill said:
What is the watts of your heater?
Click to expand...
I do not know. The nameplate is on the back of the heater, which is installed in a rather heavy TV stand with a large TV on its top. Not gonna move it. However, as I mentioned earlier, it's plugged into a standard receptacle. The same receptacle also feeds the Blu-ray player, a Bose radio, and a receiver we use to get sound from the TV. So it can't be much. But it's enough to maintain 70 degrees in a 20x20 foot living area during a Chicago winter.
 
retirede said:
There are some that are decorative only. But most provide some heat. If it is designed to provide heat, it is a space heater.
Click to expand...
Yep. Our family room has poor ventilation, so in winter the heat doesn't get there very well. I'm putting in one of the type that is the TV stand (like Charlie described), but I'm trying to find one that's only 1000W max, because I have a lot of stuff on that circuit already. I know I can get one that I can SET to 1000W or less, but I also know my wife will turn it up if she can...
 
You all might enjoy this hack I just did;
We have a old pellet stove my wife loves, we used to buy pellets by the pallet.
Pellet stoves have a double wall pressure vent and over time the seals fail and you start to get little hard to track down leaks, especially since we have a 'modern' house with vaulted ceiling.
We now have a ductless heatpump that heats the air in the room, (cools in the summer)
but the reviews are in and my wife missed the radiant heat glow, warm air != radient heat.
so recently its been on my honey do list to get the pellet stove running again, just for occasional use.
hmmm
so I ran the numbers on the current cost of pellets ($8/40LB bag) how many BTU in a 40LB bag (330k) vs our low electric rates here in the PNW(~.13 kWh) and the stove would have to be over 66% efficient to be a better deal.
I doubt a 25 year old stove is.
Even with a new stove I'd only save pennies compared to electric resistance heat not the heatpump with 250% efficiency (or whatever it is).
Then I figured well who cares about efficiency for an occasional fireplace?
So I looked into replacing the the vent pipe, hire a professional of course.
Well its not worth replacing that vent,
or fixing or getting a new stove.
But She loves that stove, it is a nice looking stove, I love her so what do I do?
Haul it away and get a electric fireplace.
Hauling it away means it just becomes another yard ornament to the disdain of my more upper middle class neighbors..
Then I am buying more cheap stuff, and its not 'fixing the stove'
So yesterday I just put a orange LED light in the fire pot, and a flickering flame led.
Now when you turn the pellet stove 'on' all it does to fire up two Led's.
The stove is now 'fixed', glows orange.
and everyone says the room is warmer.
 
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Little Bill said:
Mainly just trying to see if it would be considered a continuous load.
Click to expand...
I generally wouldn't consider it that unless it were more of a fixed item like some insert for an actual fireplace or maybe one with say a 240 volt supply rating and on it's own individual circuit. Otherwise most of them no different than bringing in a portable heater of same rating and plugging into the general use receptacles in whatever room they are used in. If you know up front you want such a thing even if only 120 volts and you run a dedicated circuit to it, maybe you factor it in on load calculations.

If it has 15 amp plug, I doubt it would have rating over 12 amps or at least is just a little over with maybe a 1500 watt rating. Anything more than that should probably not have a 15 amp plug in the first place.
 
tortuga said:
You all might enjoy this hack I just did;
We have a old pellet stove my wife loves, we used to buy pellets by the pallet.
Pellet stoves have a double wall pressure vent and over time the seals fail and you start to get little hard to track down leaks, especially since we have a 'modern' house with vaulted ceiling.
We now have a ductless heatpump that heats the air in the room, (cools in the summer)
but the reviews are in and my wife missed the radiant heat glow, warm air != radient heat.
so recently its been on my honey do list to get the pellet stove running again, just for occasional use.
hmmm
so I ran the numbers on the current cost of pellets ($8/40LB bag) how many BTU in a 40LB bag (330k) vs our low electric rates here in the PNW(~.13 kWh) and the stove would have to be over 66% efficient to be a better deal.
I doubt a 25 year old stove is.
Even with a new stove I'd only save pennies compared to electric resistance heat not the heatpump with 250% efficiency (or whatever it is).
Then I figured well who cares about efficiency for an occasional fireplace?
So I looked into replacing the the vent pipe, hire a professional of course.
Well its not worth replacing that vent,
or fixing or getting a new stove.
But She loves that stove, it is a nice looking stove, I love her so what do I do?
Haul it away and get a electric fireplace.
Hauling it away means it just becomes another yard ornament to the disdain of my more upper middle class neighbors..
Then I am buying more cheap stuff, and its not 'fixing the stove'
So yesterday I just put a orange LED light in the fire pot, and a flickering flame led.
Now when you turn the pellet stove 'on' all it does to fire up two Led's.
The stove is now 'fixed', glows orange.
and everyone says the room is warmer.
Click to expand...
In my younger days I played in a couple different bands and one group I was with traveled into the Sierra Nevada mountains for a gig. They place had a campsite and we set up for the night. It was in the summer, but those higher elevations still get a little chilly at night, so we were bummed to find out they didn't allow fires. As a joke I "fired" up an app on my phone that simulated a campfire and we all huddled around it and started talking (and drinking of course). After a while, maybe 10-15 minutes, the app shut itself off and there was a collective groan of disappointment. Besides the nice sound and visual stimulation, several people were convinced it put out heat.
 
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