First, so there is no confusion: we have not installed or run the fireplaces on this site. You will not find a hands-on test or a "best buy" badge here. We show you which numbers we use and how the score comes out of them, so you can check every score yourself.
Where the data comes from
- Amazon.com listings: the price, the specs the seller lists (size, heater wattage, heated area, flame colors, controls, safety listing, warranty) and the buyer reviews (stars and number of ratings).
- Maker websites: where the maker publishes more detail than the listing, we use it.
- Missing figures: when nobody publishes a value, we write "not published". We never estimate a figure or fill one in.
- Shared reviews: Amazon often pools the ratings of every size in one listing. A 36 in and a 60 in model can show the same review count. We say so on the product page.
The score: up to six parts, 2 points each
1. Flame effect
| Flame colors | Points |
|---|---|
| 10 or more | 2 |
| 5 to 9 | 1.5 |
| 2 to 4 | 1 |
| One | 0.5 |
More colors do not make the flame look more real, but they let you match the room and turn the bright blue modes off at night. If a listing gives no number, this part is left out.
2. Heat control
Up to 2 points: 0.5 for a full 1,400 W or 1,500 W heater, 0.75 for a thermostat, 0.5 for a flame-only mode and 0.25 for a timer. A thermostat matters most: without one, the heater runs until you switch it off and the room keeps getting warmer.
3. Controls
1 point for a remote, 1 for a phone app.
4. Safety
1 point for a named UL, ETL or CSA listing, 1 point for an overheat cut-off. Every heater sold in a US store should carry one of the three listings. We give the point only when the seller names it.
5. Warranty
| Written warranty | Points |
|---|---|
| 3 years or more | 2 |
| 2 years | 1.5 |
| 1 year | 1 |
| None published | 0 |
A warranty nobody writes down is not one you can count on, so it scores 0.
6. Buyer reviews
Only listings with 20 or more ratings count. 4.6 stars or more gets 2 points, 4.4 gets 1.5, 4.0 gets 1, lower gets 0.5.
From points to a score
We add the points of the parts we could score and divide by the maximum of those parts. That gives a score from 0 to 10. A fireplace with missing data is not punished for it, except on warranty.
What we do not do
- We do not take money from makers for a better score.
- We do not test heat output ourselves. Every electric fireplace on a normal outlet tops out at about 1,500 W, so the heat claims in the listings ("up to 1,000 sq ft") say more about marketing than about the heater.
- Prices change daily. The price on our page is the one we saw on the date at the top of the page.
The links to Amazon are affiliate links. If you buy through them, we earn a small fee, and you pay the same price. It does not change the score.