how real do your electric 'fireplace' flames look?

mich800 wrote:

jfkmk wrote:

newman fulltimer wrote:
if i want a fire i make one outside my 2 cents.
plus with my luck if it breaks it will be discontinued

I agree. To each their own, I guess, but I really can't see buying a camper so i can enjoy the great outdoors then sit inside in front of a fake fire.

We are all fake camping. If we really wanted to see the outdoors we would tent it. If you like a fireplace get one. There is no reason not to enjoy a relaxing evening inside after your outdoor adventures end.

Ha ha, that's a very good point. :-)

Very relaxing to sit by the fake fire, listening to the fake sounds of crackling embers with the soft glow of the 10 or so battery powered candles scattered around the RV. It makes it great to just sit and read the book I downloaded to my Kindle while drinking a few non-alcohol beers...

We enjoy a campfire, but not all day or even every day. But the fireplace I added is a nice feature. We can get up in the morning, hit the remote, and have heat and ambiance. And at night, after we settle in to the RV, hit the remote again.

I agree with above statement about the variances. Some look better than others. Check out various ones to see the differences. I was very limited on what I could install in the limited space I had available, but it works for us. There is a very large selection out there. Google electric fireplace.

These Electric fireplaces has an incandescent light bulb inside a rotating drum which throws up a picture of the flames on a screen. Others have a flicker light coming through fake logs...

I have only been around one in my travels in an RV but alot of hotels have them and actually calls them FIREPLACES hehe...

They are really neat for when you first get up and turn one one while you drink your first cup of coffee... Warms up the floor around your easy chair pretty good they tell me...

By the time I get my outside fire going and the fresh ground bean coffee made I really enjoy my first cup of coffee around my firepit outside haha...

Its what folks want to have I reckon...

Roy Ken

dahkota wrote:
We have a fake fireplace - made by a company called Dimplex. It came with the RV. When we first got it, I figured it was another thing we probably wouldn't use. It isn't a real fire; you can tell if you look at it. It has glowing 'coals,' glowing 'wood,' and 'flames.' All of them are constantly dimming and glowing in an attempt to make it look more real. I can adjust the amount of light and the speed of the 'flames' and glow. If you adjust the speed and the light just right - not too fast, not too bright, you can fool people when they first walk in. But, if you look at it for more than a second, you know it isn't real. Kind of like looking at a mannequin; out of the the corner of your eye, you aren't really sure - you need to look directly at it.

But, as fake as it is, it is nice to have. If we are plugged into electric, I turn it on in the mornings and evenings to warm up our space. It works wonderfully doing this, without taking up floor space like a portable heater. It is also pretty silent, much quieter than our heat pump and furnace. It puts out constant heat rather than cycling on and off so we don't have to turn up the music or the tv every time it comes on. It produces a nice warm glow in the room, much nicer than the bright white LEDs we have all over the place.

We can't roast marshmallows or chestnuts on it, but our house doesn't smell of soot either. Nothing to clean, no wood to gather. It is safer than a gas fireplace - no actual flames or gas. It doesn't look, sound, or smell as real as a campfire but, at 6AM on a chilly morning, it throws off enough warmth and light to be comfortable. Will you be fooled? No. But for us, it turns out to be a great addition to our home.

For people who camp only on weekends or occasional vacations, having a campfire every night is a treat. We live full time in our RV. A campfire every night just isn't as exciting for us. And it can be expensive. Nor are we always in a location that allows a campfire. The fake fireplace we have is a space heater than happens to have a personality. It is not a replacement for a campfire. We don't sit in front of it keeping our hands warm or roasting marshmallows. We turn it on and watch the news or pay our bills or have a cocktail. You know, what you do at home when you don't have a campfire.

Thanks for your long thoughtful reply. I too live full time in my RV and I'm now certain that one of these units would be a nice addition to my home-on-wheels.
Steve

We also have the Dimplex unit in our coach. While the flame is not 100% realistic, you don't really set there staring at it. The main purpose IMO of these units is the 5,000btu heater. This function is GREAT for taking the chill off the coach first thing in the A.M. when you don't want to hear the heat pumps, or run the furnace because it's really not that cold outside to run it.

We have a fake fireplace - made by a company called Dimplex. It came with the RV. When we first got it, I figured it was another thing we probably wouldn't use. It isn't a real fire; you can tell if you look at it. It has glowing 'coals,' glowing 'wood,' and 'flames.' All of them are constantly dimming and glowing in an attempt to make it look more real. I can adjust the amount of light and the speed of the 'flames' and glow. If you adjust the speed and the light just right - not too fast, not too bright, you can fool people when they first walk in. But, if you look at it for more than a second, you know it isn't real. Kind of like looking at a mannequin; out of the the corner of your eye, you aren't really sure - you need to look directly at it.

But, as fake as it is, it is nice to have. If we are plugged into electric, I turn it on in the mornings and evenings to warm up our space. It works wonderfully doing this, without taking up floor space like a portable heater. It is also pretty silent, much quieter than our heat pump and furnace. It puts out constant heat rather than cycling on and off so we don't have to turn up the music or the tv every time it comes on. It produces a nice warm glow in the room, much nicer than the bright white LEDs we have all over the place.

We can't roast marshmallows or chestnuts on it, but our house doesn't smell of soot either. Nothing to clean, no wood to gather. It is safer than a gas fireplace - no actual flames or gas. It doesn't look, sound, or smell as real as a campfire but, at 6AM on a chilly morning, it throws off enough warmth and light to be comfortable. Will you be fooled? No. But for us, it turns out to be a great addition to our home.

For people who camp only on weekends or occasional vacations, having a campfire every night is a treat. We live full time in our RV. A campfire every night just isn't as exciting for us. And it can be expensive. Nor are we always in a location that allows a campfire. The fake fireplace we have is a space heater than happens to have a personality. It is not a replacement for a campfire. We don't sit in front of it keeping our hands warm or roasting marshmallows. We turn it on and watch the news or pay our bills or have a cocktail. You know, what you do at home when you don't have a campfire.

My camper came with the fireplace, and yes the flame looks kind of fake, the noise it makes it stupid. With that said I like the heat it puts out for the not so sit out side nights. To me well worth it

jfkmk wrote:

newman fulltimer wrote:
if i want a fire i make one outside my 2 cents.
plus with my luck if it breaks it will be discontinued

I agree. To each their own, I guess, but I really can't see buying a camper so i can enjoy the great outdoors then sit inside in front of a fake fire.

We are all fake camping. If we really wanted to see the outdoors we would tent it. If you like a fireplace get one. There is no reason not to enjoy a relaxing evening inside after your outdoor adventures end.

newman fulltimer wrote:
if i want a fire i make one outside my 2 cents.
plus with my luck if it breaks it will be discontinued

I agree. To each their own, I guess, but I really can't see buying a camper so i can enjoy the great outdoors then sit inside in front of a fake fire.