Electric fireplaces you can see lit before you buy.
No vent, no gas line, no chimney — an electric fireplace goes where nothing else can: a condo wall, a finished basement, a bedroom, a media wall. We carry eighteen models from the three makers whose flames hold up in daylight, and every electric display on our floor in Downers Grove is lit.
- 3 makers, 18 modelsDimplex, Modern Flames, DaVinci GreenSmart
- Plug-in or hardwired120 volts from an outlet; 240 volts for double the heat
- Lit on the floorSeven days a week, 1202-B 75th Street
- Installed by our crewFraming, circuit and finish in one written estimate
When electric is the right answer — and when it is not.
We do not push electric where gas belongs. But there are rooms where it is clearly the better call, and a few where it is the only one.
Condo or apartment
Most buildings will not let you cut a vent through a shared exterior wall, and many will not let you run gas. An electric unit needs an outlet. The Spectrum Slimline sits in a 2×4 partition; the IgniteXL 50 recesses into a 2×6 wall with edge-to-edge glass.
Interior wall
No realistic path to the outside for a vent run, so gas is off the table. A recessed linear — Orion Slim, Landscape Pro Slim or the DaVinci 51 — needs a framed pocket and a circuit, nothing more.
Finished basement
Venting and gas would mean opening finished ceilings. Electric goes in through the wall you already have, and the heater takes the chill off a basement room that the furnace never quite reaches. Hardwired to 240 volts, the larger units give roughly twice the heat.
Bedroom or office
Here the point is the flame and a modest heat boost, not primary heating. A plug-in insert or a wall-mounted linear on its own outlet does it; keep the heater off a circuit that already feeds a TV or a computer.
Media or feature wall
The reason linear electric exists. A Modern Flames Orion Multi runs up to 120 inches with one, two or three sides of glass; the AllWood wall kit frames the unit and the screen; our crew builds the wall. Heat at the glass is low enough to keep the TV where you want it, at the maker’s clearance.
Old masonry fireplace
A wood fireplace you never light becomes a lit one in an afternoon: the DaVinci 31 insert, the Redstone insert, the Orion Traditional or the Revillusion 30 slide into the opening with panels that close the gap.
When it is not the answer. If the room can take a direct-vent gas unit and heat is what you are after, choose gas: more heat, and a flame made of fire. Gas fireplaces for Chicago homes is the page for that room.
The flame is the whole product.
An electric fireplace is a light show and a space heater in one case. The heater is the same physics in every brand. What separates a fireplace you stop noticing from one you keep looking at is how the flame is made — and the three makers on our floor make it three different ways. Tap a video to see each one moving; then come and see them lit.
IgniteXL linear fireplacesDimplex, official video · 2 minDimplex — lit water vapor, a mirror panel, and Multi-Fire.
Dimplex has shaped electric flame effects for more than fifty years, and it holds the patents on two of them. Optimyst makes flame and smoke out of lit water vapor you can reach straight through. Revillusion uses a Mirage Flame Panel so the flame appears in front of, between and behind a full grate of hardwood-cast logs, with a see-through view to the back of the box. Multi-Fire, on the IgniteXL linears, is the flame Dimplex calls its most realistic — color, depth and movement over a driftwood and crystal bed, behind edge-to-edge glass.
Orion TraditionalModern Flames, official video · 21 sModern Flames — HELIOVISION, a flame that reads the same from any angle.
Modern Flames, of Phoenix, Arizona, builds its Orion line around HELIOVISION: virtual, digital flames the maker describes as multi-dimensional and consistent from any angle, unlike the flat two-dimensional effects most electric units use. The Orion Multi carries eighteen flame displays (twenty-four on the current version), a ten-color ember bed and a crackle track. It comes in widths to 120 inches with one, two or three sides of glass, controlled from the wall, the remote or the Wi-Fi app.
GreenSmart Electric FireplacesDaVinci Custom Fireplaces, official video · 2½ minDaVinci GreenSmart — three-dimensional flame over high-definition logs, with sound.
DaVinci Custom Fireplaces — the Travis Industries brand behind the custom gas line we build into Chicago homes — makes its electric units the way it makes everything: to be looked at up close. Lodge Fire gives the bold flame of a wood fire; Urban Fire a contemporary flame in orange, yellow or white. Both play as three-dimensional flames on and around high-definition logs with synchronized crackling audio, sparks and smoke, over four zones of LED light you set separately: the glowing logs, the downlight, the fuel bed and the ambient glow.
Videos are the makers’ own, played from YouTube in privacy-enhanced mode when you press play. Optimyst, Revillusion, Multi-Fire and IgniteXL are trademarks of Glen Dimplex; HELIOVISION, Orion, Landscape Pro, Redstone and Spectrum of Modern Flames; DaVinci and GreenSmart of Travis Industries.
Why we chose Dimplex, Modern Flames and DaVinci.
There are dozens of electric fireplace brands and most of them are the same handful of fireboxes in different cabinets. We carry three because they pass four tests: a flame technology of their own, a service and parts organization behind it, a warranty in writing, and a unit our own crew can install and stand behind. Here is the case for each, with the makers’ own figures.
DimplexThe safe choice for a first electric fireplace, and the widest range of looks.
- More than fifty years of electric fireplace innovation, by the maker’s own count; Optiflame in 1988, the first electric fireplace it claims as a realistic wood-fire effect in 1995, Opti-myst in 2008.1,2
- Patented Optimyst and Revillusion flame technologies, and a dealer network of more than 850 across the United States and Canada, so parts and service are never a hunt.1
- Heaters sized for the room: about 400 square feet on a standard 120-volt circuit, roughly double when hardwired to 240 volts.1,3
- The IgniteXL 50 is 5⅞ inches deep — it recesses into an ordinary 2×6 wall — with a five-year warranty; the family runs 50, 60, 74 and 100 inches.3
Modern FlamesThe maker for the media wall and the room with glass on two or three sides.
- An American maker, based in Phoenix, whose HELIOVISION flame is built to look consistent from any angle — the difference you notice on a three-sided unit.4,5
- The Orion Multi comes 52 to 120 inches wide, one-, two- or three-sided, wall-mounted or built in, with eighteen flame displays, a ten-color ember bed and Wi-Fi control from the maker’s app.5
- 5,000 to 10,000 BTU an hour — the upper figure when hardwired to 240 volts — for rooms of 400 to 800 square feet.5
- Five-year manufacturer’s warranty on the Orion line; the Nova Clear is the maker’s first see-through electric fireplace with laser projection.4,5
DaVinci GreenSmart ElectricThe maker for the room where the fireplace is the architecture.
- Built by DaVinci Custom Fireplaces, the Travis Industries brand whose custom gas fireplaces we already specify and install — the same frameless, built-to-be-looked-at design carried into electric.6
- Four fireplace sizes — 39, 51, 59 and 71 inches — each as single-sided, left corner, right corner or bay, plus a 31-inch insert for an existing opening.6
- Two fire styles, Lodge Fire and Urban Fire; three-dimensional flames on and around high-definition logs; synchronized crackle audio, sparks with smoke; four LED lighting zones.6
- 4,800 BTU an hour on 120 volts, 9,500 on 240 volts; controlled from the GreenSmart app, the remote, Google Home or Alexa, or the on-board panel; two-year warranty on parts and labor.6
Every claim above is the maker’s, from its own published pages; the figures are quoted, not ours. Specifications change by model and year — confirm on the submittal for your project.
Eighteen models, three makers, no vent on any of them.
Tap a model for its sizes, finishes and the spec sheet. Widths run from a 25-inch firebox to ten feet of glass; every one of them is plug-in or hardwired, and every one we sell we can install.
DaVinci GreenSmart Electric five
DaVinciDaVinci GreenSmart Electric 39″Single-sided, left or right corner, or bay. Lodge Fire or Urban Fire.See it
DaVinciDaVinci GreenSmart Electric 51″The size most rooms end up with. Corner and bay builds too.See it
DaVinciDaVinci GreenSmart Electric 59″Shown as a bay — three sides of glass, no vent behind any of them.See it
DaVinciDaVinci GreenSmart Electric 71″Six feet of flame on a 120-volt circuit; hardwire to 240 for double the heat.See it
DaVinciDaVinci GreenSmart Electric Insert 31″Slides into an existing masonry opening with standard or custom panels.See it
Modern Flames ten
Modern FlamesOrion MultiHELIOVISION flame; one, two or three sides of glass; 52 to 120 inches wide.See it
Modern FlamesOrion SlimThe same HELIOVISION flame in a case that recesses into a 2×6 wall.See it
Modern FlamesOrion TraditionalHELIOVISION over a log set — the traditional look, built in or as an insert.See it
Modern FlamesLandscape Pro MultiMulti-view LED linear with independent color controls; three-sided option.See it
Modern FlamesLandscape Pro SlimThe linear built-in for a shallow wall.See it
Modern FlamesRedstone Built-InTraditional firebox look, 26 to 54 inches, LED flame over logs.See it
Modern FlamesRedstone InsertThe Redstone look sized for an existing opening.See it
Modern FlamesSpectrum SlimlineFits a 2×4 wall — the answer for a condo partition or a bedroom.See it
Modern FlamesAllWood Wall KitsAccessory: the media-wall system that frames a linear unit and the TV.See it
Modern FlamesStudio Suites mantel packageAccessory: a finished mantel surround for the Redstone and Orion Traditional.See it
Dimplex three
DimplexIgniteXL 50 (XLF50)Edge-to-edge glass, 5⅞ inches deep — it recesses into a 2×6 wall. Sizes to 100 inches.See it
DimplexRevillusion 30The Mirage Flame Panel: flame in front of, between and behind the logs; glass or open front.See it
DimplexMulti-Fire XDA 25-inch firebox with the diamond-like acrylic ember bed.See it
Enough to warm the room. Not enough to heat the house.
Every electric fireplace heater is a resistance heater, and a resistance heater turns all of its electricity into heat. A standard 120-volt unit draws about 1,500 watts, which is 5,118 BTU an hour — one watt is 3.412 BTU an hour — and the makers rate that for a room of around 400 square feet. Hardwire the larger units to a 240-volt circuit and the draw roughly doubles: the Dimplex IgniteXL 50 goes from 1,500 to 2,500 watts, the DaVinci GreenSmart from 4,800 to 9,500 BTU an hour, the Modern Flames Orion to 10,000.
That is a good supplemental heater — the basement room the furnace never reaches, the bedroom at night — and a poor furnace. The flame runs with the heater off, so in summer the fireplace is a lamp.
Wattages from the makers’ specifications; the BTU conversion is arithmetic. Rooms with high ceilings, big windows or poor insulation need more.
What it costs to run
Your rate is on your ComEd bill. The default is the U.S. average residential price for June 2026 published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.7
- Per hour
- $0.27
- Per day
- $0.82
- Per month (30 days)
- $24.71
Flame only, heater off: pennies for an evening — the LED flame draws a small fraction of the heater, and the exact figure is on each model’s specification sheet. Kilowatts × hours × your rate; nothing else is in the arithmetic.
Three kinds of job, one written number.
The plug-in
An insert into an existing opening or a wall-mounted linear on its own outlet. An afternoon. The chimney is capped, the panels close the gap, the cord disappears.
The recessed linear
A framed pocket in a 2×6 wall (a 2×4 for the Spectrum Slimline), a dedicated circuit, drywall and finish. Hardwired at 240 volts if you want the full heat. This is where the electrician earns his place on the job.
The media or feature wall
Framing, the wall kit, the TV at the maker’s clearance, the finish of your choice. See custom fireplaces for the walls we have built; the electric version is the same carpentry without the vent.
Every installation is run by our own employees; when a job calls for a mason or an electrician we bring in one of a small, hand-picked network we have worked with for years, and we stay in charge of the job. The person who plans your fireplace is the person who comes back if it ever needs attention. We handle permitting as part of the job where the municipality requires it, and we file it rather than leaving it to you.
The honest limit. Simpler than gas, but not always plug-and-play: a 1,500-watt heater on a circuit that already feeds a bedroom or a TV wall will trip the breaker. Recessed units and every 240-volt unit get their own circuit, and that is worth doing properly.
Electric versus gas, honestly.
| What matters | Electric | Direct-vent gas |
|---|---|---|
| Heat | About 5,000 BTU an hour on 120 volts, about double on 240 — a room, not a house | Typically 20,000 BTU an hour and up — heats the room and the ones next to it |
| The flame | Light: vapor, mirror panel or digital projection, in colors real fire never has | Fire, behind glass |
| Venting and gas line | None | A vent to the outside and a gas line — the reason some rooms cannot have one |
| Where it can go | Almost any wall with a circuit: condos, basements, bedrooms, interior walls | Exterior walls or where a vent can be run; the building must allow it |
| Installation | An afternoon to a few days; framing and a circuit for built-ins | Gas line, venting penetration, framing, permits — days |
| Running cost | Pennies for the flame; the heater like a space heater | Gas by the therm; more heat per dollar in a Chicago winter |
| Upkeep | Dust the glass; a bulb or a board, rarely | An annual service: glass, burner, pilot, blower |
| Under a TV | Made for it, at the maker’s clearance | Needs a heat-management kit or a mantel to protect the screen |
If the room can take gas and heat matters, gas. If it cannot, electric is not a compromise any more — it is a different product that does a different job. Our detailed comparison covers running cost and efficiency in more depth, and the gas page for Chicago homes is here.
We service what we install.
Our technicians service every make of gas, wood and pellet fireplace, whether it came from us or not. Electric is the one exception: we service the electric fireplaces we installed ourselves, and for a unit bought elsewhere we point you to the maker’s service line. That is the plain version of our policy, and it is why we sell only three makers — all three have parts and support we can reach on your behalf.
Fireplace repair and service is the page for everything else on your hearth.
Our showroom, in thirty secondsA Fireplace Store and MoreSee the floor before you drive. Every electric display is lit — Dimplex, Modern Flames and DaVinci side by side, so the choice is made with your eyes. Mon–Fri 10–5 · Sat 11–4 · Sun 1–4, 1202-B 75th Street, Downers Grove.
Chicago and the western suburbs.
- Downers Grove
- Naperville
- Wheaton
- Burr Ridge
- Lombard
- Bolingbrook
- Hinsdale
- Oak Brook
- Elmhurst
- Darien
- Westmont
- Clarendon Hills
- Glen Ellyn
- Chicago
Inside the city we take the larger installations — media walls, built-ins and multi-sided units; see fireplace installation in Chicago.
What people ask us about electric fireplaces.
Do electric fireplaces need venting or a gas line?
No. There is no combustion, so there is no vent, no chimney and no gas line. That is why an electric fireplace can go on a condo partition wall, in a finished basement or in a bedroom where a gas unit cannot.
How much heat does an electric fireplace give?
A 120-volt unit runs a heater of about 1,500 watts, which is roughly 5,000 BTU an hour — a supplemental heater for a room of around 400 square feet, not a replacement for the furnace. Hardwired to 240 volts, the larger Dimplex, Modern Flames and DaVinci units roughly double that. The flame runs with or without the heater.
Are electric fireplaces expensive to run?
The flame alone is LED light and costs pennies for an evening. With the heater on high, a 1,500-watt unit uses 1.5 kilowatt-hours an hour — about 27 cents at the U.S. average residential rate of 18.3 cents per kilowatt-hour reported by the U.S. Energy Information Administration for June 2026. Your ComEd bill shows your own rate; the calculator on this page does the arithmetic.
Do I need a dedicated circuit?
Plug-in and most 120-volt units run on an ordinary outlet, but a 1,500-watt heater on a circuit that already feeds a bedroom or a TV wall will trip the breaker. Recessed linear units and any 240-volt installation get their own circuit, run by an electrician as part of our job.
Which electric fireplace looks the most real?
It depends on the look you want. Dimplex Optimyst makes a flame out of lit water vapor you can pass a hand through. Dimplex Revillusion puts the flame in front of, between and behind real-looking logs. Modern Flames HELIOVISION draws a digital, multi-dimensional flame that reads the same from any angle. DaVinci GreenSmart projects three-dimensional flames on and around high-definition logs, with sound and sparks. Every electric display on our floor is lit, so you can judge them side by side.
Can an electric fireplace go under a TV?
Yes. Electric units put out far less heat at the glass than gas, and the linear models are designed for media walls. We still keep the maker’s clearance to the screen, and the Modern Flames AllWood wall kit and Studio Suites are built for exactly that layout.
Can I put an electric insert in my old masonry fireplace?
Yes. The DaVinci GreenSmart 31-inch insert, the Modern Flames Redstone insert and Orion Traditional, and the Dimplex Revillusion firebox are made for an existing opening, with panels that close the gap. The chimney is capped and the old firebox stays as it is.
How wide can an electric fireplace be?
From a 25-inch firebox to a 120-inch Modern Flames Orion Multi. The Dimplex IgniteXL family runs 50, 60, 74 and 100 inches; the DaVinci GreenSmart runs 39, 51, 59 and 71 inches, in single-sided, corner and bay shapes.
Do you install electric fireplaces, or just sell them?
Both. Every installation is run by our own employees; when a job calls for a mason or an electrician we bring in one of a small, hand-picked network we have worked with for years, and we stay in charge of the job. We handle permitting where the municipality requires it.
Do you service electric fireplaces?
We service the electric fireplaces we install. For an electric unit bought elsewhere we point you to the maker’s service line — that is the one exception to our every-make service policy for gas, wood and pellet.
What does an electric fireplace cost installed?
The unit and the wall set the number. A plug-in insert into an existing opening is the simplest job; a recessed linear unit in a new feature wall adds framing, a dedicated circuit and finish carpentry. A free in-home estimate settles the scope, and the written quote is fixed before installation is scheduled.
Sourcesseven — the makers’ own pages and the U.S. EIA
- Dimplex, Electric fireplaces: flame technology — “50+ years of electric fireplace innovation”, “patented Optimyst and Revillusion flame technology”, “850+ authorized dealers”, “warms rooms up to around 400 square feet”.
- Wikipedia, Electric fireplace — Optiflame 1988; Dimplex’s claim to the first realistic wood-burning flame effect, 1995; Opti-myst, 2008.
- Dimplex, IgniteXL owner’s manual, models XLF50 / XLF74 / XLF100, and the maker’s XLF50 specification — 1,500 W / 4,400 BTU at 120 V, 2,500 W / 8,530 BTU at 240 V, 5â…ž-inch depth, five-year warranty.
- Modern Flames, modernflames.com — Phoenix, Arizona; “Orion Traditional: the most lifelike fire in an electric fireplace”; Nova Clear, “the first see-through electric fireplace with laser projection technology”.
- Modern Flames, Orion Multi specification as published by the maker’s dealers — HELIOVISION “multi-dimensional flames that look consistent from any angle, unlike 2D flames”; 52–120 inches; 5,000–10,000 BTU when hardwired to 240 V; 400–800 sq ft; five-year manufacturer’s warranty.
- DaVinci Custom Fireplaces, GreenSmart Electric Fireplaces — 39, 51, 59 and 71; single-sided, right corner, left corner and bay; Lodge Fire and Urban Fire; “120V – 4,800 BTUS/HR, 240V – 9,500 BTUS/HR”; app, remote, Google Home/Alexa; two-year warranty on parts and labor.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electricity Monthly Update, end-use prices — U.S. average residential price 18.34 cents per kWh, June 2026.
A Fireplace Store and More · Downers Grove, IL
Ready when you are.
Tell us the room and the wall, and we call back within one business day with a time. Every estimate is one written number for the unit, the electrical work and the finish, fixed before installation is scheduled.
Showroom hoursMon–Fri 10–5Sat 11–4Sun 1–41202-B 75th St, Downers Grove
Our showroom, 75th Street, Downers Grove