When it comes to fireplaces, you have a wealth of options in front of you when it comes to buying a new one.Stove or fireplace? Wall hung or floor standing? Most importantly - electric or gas? Gas (or solid fuel) used to be the standard, but electric fires have come a long way over the past several decades, thanks to clever engineering, and smart designs. Here are a few advantages to buying electric.
Style
Electric fires enjoy a great variety of style choices.Because they don’t have to accommodate some of the items that gas fires do (gas lines, flues etc.), they can play a little more fast and loose with their designs. While some do harden back to traditional gas designs, some are akin to art! This means you are almost certainly going to find something to suit your tastes and your pre-existing decor.
Efficiency
Solid fuel stoves require a lot of cleaning. Ashes from the used up fuels need to be cleared from the stove periodically, and you also need to clean the attached chimney from time to time too. Gas fires, which don’t produce by-products from burning it’s fuel, do still require gas and a pilot light to work. For an electric fire, not only do you have no excess mess from the heating process, but almost 100% of the heat it produces is transported into the room it is heating!
Easy to install
Again, gas and solid fuel stoves require certain things. Stoves need flues, and gas fires need to be connected to a gas line. Electric fires, however, need only a plug to work!While some are a little impractical to move around, this advantages means most electrical fireplaces are easy to transport around. Going in the kitchen for a while? Pick the fire up and carry it with you! Moving house? No problem! It goes where you go with minimal hassle.
Similarly, gas fires and stoves usually require an engineer to install. They need to hook up the gas supply, or set up flues. Again, thanks to it’s simply set up, there really is no need to hire an engineer to install it for you.
Long lasting
While they are built to last a long time, having a lit flame inside a gas fire or a stove at all times will eventually wear them down. Stoves can become blackened, and gas fires can start to look worn out if the flames are constantly set to high.
Electric fires have legendary staying power. Owing to the fact that it is a very simple appliance, with only a heating element and a fan necessary to create the desired heating effect, there is very little that can go wrong. It doesn’t get burnt up by excess by-products, and avoids getting burned out by overuse. And should something go wrong, it is usually a cheap and efficient fix.
