The Real Beauty of a Fake Fireplace

If your home doesn’t have a fireplace, you can still experience warmth and ambiance with a "fake fireplace." These alternatives to wood-burning fireplaces are less expensive and much easier to install without any invasive and costly construction. Gas fireplaces, electric fireplaces, and gel-fueled fireplaces are preferred by many homeowners for their convenience and style. Portable fireplaces can also provide an instant, decorator touch with a mantel perfect for an immediate splash of personality. And because the image of a hearth and its fireplace tools conjures feelings of comfort and security, any style of artificial fireplace can transform your living room into a warm gathering space with or without a fire.

Gas, electric and gel fireplaces come in an array of “surrounds” (the wood, metal or marble enclosing the firebox) from unfinished pine to Italian marble and are available for every budget. Usually available in “straight” or corner styles, most artificial fireplaces can be placed anywhere within a room. And with Brick-Anew’s complete line of fireplace accessories, you’ll not only have the tools necessary to manage your new artificial fireplace, you’ll pull together a total new look for your living room.

Gas Fireplaces

Gas fireplaces typically have ceramic “logs” that glow and a real flame that’s fueled by direct access to the home’s gas line or via a hook-up to an outside tank. The clean-burning natural gas produces less smoke than a wood fire, and the fuel certainly costs less.

There are two types of gas fireplaces:

• Direct-vent gas fireplaces are vented through an outside wall.
• Vent-free or vent-less gas fireplaces require no venting at all.

Gas fireplaces can usually be installed into an existing wood-burning fireplace. You can buy them with convenient technology like a remote control, thermostat control, heatless setting and safety glass. And many styles of ceramic logs for gas fireplaces are available to choose from.

Electric Fireplaces

Electric fireplaces offer the convenience of portability and the added benefit of economy. Usually cheaper than gas fireplaces, homeowners can place them in any room where there’s an electrical outlet. They don’t require venting, usually have logs that glow rather than flames, and are fueled just by plugging it in. It has advantages for the renter, too. With its easy portability, the electric fireplace is the perfect way to create the comfort of a hearth and mantel on a smaller scale to make a temporary living space feel like home.

Gel-Fueled Fireplaces

Gel-fueled fireplaces are a growing trend! Also called portable fireplaces or vent-less fireplaces, gel fireplaces are fueled by small canisters of alcohol gel that are placed behind the “logs” after being lit. Gel fireplaces are economical—many are available for less than $500. Also popular with renters for their small-scale heating, gel-fueled fireplaces are used primarily for ambience, and the canisters are available in a variety of scents to help that atmosphere along.

Making a Fake Fireplace

The U.S. Fire Administration reported that only about 1/3 of the population actually uses fireplaces for heat. If you want the beauty of a fireplace without worrying about chimneys, venting, or smoke and fumes, why not build your own non-burning fireplace? This doesn’t have to be a throw-together job, either; consider a hand-carved hardwood mantel that you can finish and n install yourself. Non-burning fireplaces that don’t burn anything can still warm up a room, especially if set with real fireplace candelabras. And during the holidays, where else are you to hang stockings and holiday cards if not on a mantle?

An artificial fireplace or non-burning fireplace can provide warmth and ambience to transform a cold living room into an inviting gathering space for the whole family. And we should know—we at Brick-Anew have been in the business of bringing families together around beautifully renovated brick fireplaces for years.