RV Electric Fireplace vs Spaceheater

I have an electric fireplace called a Little Prince. I bought my 5er used and it came already installed. When I turn the power on it smokes and powers off. I had a tech look at it and he said it needs to be taken out and cleaned. Probably some dust bunnies in the works. We've been using the furnace in the A.M. to take the chill off and the small ceramic heaters and they do a great job. I'm going to get the fireplace out and cleaned then reinstall to see how it works. I will update the blog after that but I think that will be the way to go as LP is about $3.00 a gallon. You can also get a heat strip on some AC units and run the fan as an alternative.