Electactic 24" Electric Fireplace Stove Review: cozy heat with a few quirks

I’ve been using this Electactic 24" electric fireplace stove for a bit now in a drafty room, and I’ll be straight: I didn’t expect much. Most fake fireplaces I’ve tried look decent but barely warm anything unless you sit right in front of them. This one is closer to a real space heater with a fireplace look slapped on it. It’s not magic, but it does a decent job in the right conditions.

I put it in a roughly 12x15 ft room that never really gets to the same temperature as the rest of the house. Old windows, bad insulation, the usual story. I used it both as a main heat source for that room on mild days and as a boost when the central heat was already running on colder days. That gave me a pretty good idea of what it can and can’t do.

The brand talks a lot about “heats 1,000 sq ft in 10 minutes.” That’s marketing fantasy. It will help in a small to medium room, but don’t expect it to magically heat your whole floor if you live somewhere really cold. Where it shines more is the mix of heat + ambiance. The flame effect is actually pretty solid for this price, and the remote makes it easy to tweak from the couch or bed.

So overall, it’s not perfect, but it’s not junk either. If you want a realistic fake fireplace with useful heat and you understand its limits, it’s a pretty solid option. If you’re expecting it to replace your furnace or heat a giant open space by itself, you’re going to be disappointed.

In terms of value, you’re basically paying for a space heater + visual fireplace effect in one unit. A plain 1500W space heater without any flame effect is obviously cheaper. So if all you care about is raw heat and you don’t give a damn about ambiance, this is overkill. But if you like the look of a fireplace and want something that actually contributes real heat instead of just being a fake decoration, the price starts to make more sense.

Compared to other electric fireplaces in the same range, this one sits in a decent spot. You’re getting cast iron construction, curved LED flame, multiple colors, thermostat, timer, remote, and safety shutoffs. A lot of cheaper units cut corners on at least a couple of those. The flame effect here is better than the super-budget models I’ve seen that look flat and cartoonish. On the other hand, there are more expensive brands with even nicer flames and quieter fans, but you pay quite a bit more for that.

Where the value is “good but not crazy” is the heating claim. The marketing about 1000 sq ft in 10 minutes is just not realistic. If you go in thinking it’s a strong supplemental heater for one room, it feels like reasonable value. If you buy it expecting it to replace central heating in a big old house, you’ll be annoyed. Also, keep in mind the electric bill: 1500W running for hours every day will show up, just like any other space heater.

So, from a normal user point of view: if you want a cozy-looking heater that actually warms a room decently, this is a pretty solid value. If you only need heat and don’t care about looks, get a simpler heater and save money. If you’re picky about ultra-realistic flames and silence, you might want to spend more on a higher-end brand. This one sits in the middle: not cheap junk, not luxury, just a decent balance of features and price.

Design-wise, this thing sits halfway between an old cast-iron wood stove and a modern electric appliance. It’s finished in black, with a front glass window and side windows, so you can see the flame effect from different angles. The overall shape is pretty classic: slightly curved top, little stove legs, and a fake door look in the front (the door doesn’t open; it’s just decorative). If you like that “small cabin stove” vibe, it fits well in a living room, bedroom, or home office.

The big design change from their older model is the top air outlet. Heat blows out from a vent at the top instead of the bottom. They did this so it doesn’t cook your floor or carpet, which makes sense. The downside is you cannot put anything on top of it while it’s running. No decorations, no TV, nothing that can get hot. It also means pets can’t curl right in front of a bottom vent like some people mentioned with older stoves. The air intake is on the back, so you need to keep it a bit away from the wall or it just chokes itself.

The flame effect is driven by a curved LED screen inside, and that does make it look a bit more 3D than the flat ones I’ve seen in cheaper heaters. You get several flame and log color combos (they say 16 combos total). Most people will probably stick to the orange/amber classic look, but if you want blue or mixed colors, they’re there. I’d say the flame looks pretty solid for the price. It’s not going to fool anyone into thinking it’s real, but it’s much better than the cheesy, super-fake flames on basic models.

On the front you’ve got a row of touch buttons with a light, and while they don’t look fancy, they’re clear enough. In a dark room, the little indicator lights can be a bit bright if you’re picky, but nothing crazy. Overall, the design is more about looking like a simple stove and less about being some high-end design object. It blends in, doesn’t scream “plastic toy,” and that’s good enough for this kind of product.

In daily use, the thing I appreciated most is that you can separate the flame from the heat. So on days where it’s not that cold, I just ran the flame effect in the evening without the heater, and it still made the room feel cozier without running up the power use. When it was colder, I turned on the heat and used the remote to tweak the fan speed and temperature without getting up from the couch. That part is pretty convenient.

The remote control is simple enough: buttons for flame, color, speed, brightness, temperature, and timer. There’s a small learning curve, but after a couple of days I was doing it on autopilot. The touch panel on the front lights up, so you can see what you’re doing even in a dim room. For older people or anyone who hates fiddly controls, this is manageable. It’s not just one big knob like an old heater, but it’s far from complicated home theater-level nonsense.

Comfort-wise, the heat from the top vent spreads out decently if you’re a few feet away. If you sit too close under it, you mostly feel a stream of hot air above you, not at your legs. This is where some people might miss the old bottom-vent designs that toast your feet. On the flip side, having the heat come from the top feels a bit safer around rugs. In my setup, I put it where the airflow could push heat into the center of the room and that worked well enough.

As for sleep or quiet time, using the lowest fan speed + dimmest flame brightness at night is fine. The fan is still there, but it didn’t keep me awake. If you’re very picky about total silence, you might just use the flame-only mode in the bedroom and rely on your house heat. In general, the comfort level is good: easy to control, flexible settings, and it does make the room feel more pleasant both visually and temperature-wise.

The body is mainly cast iron/metal, and you can feel it as soon as you try to move it. It’s not flimsy, and it doesn’t flex when you push on it. The front and side panels use real glass, not wobbly plastic, which helps the look and also makes it easier to clean if it gets dusty. The legs are metal as well, and once screwed in, the whole thing feels stable. I wouldn’t sit on it or anything, but it doesn’t feel like it’s about to topple if you bump into it lightly.

There is still some plastic, mainly around the internal components, the vent area, and parts of the control panel. That’s normal for this price range. Nothing on mine rattled or felt loose out of the box. The fan noise is there, but there were no weird vibrations or buzzing. The finish is a brushed black, pretty standard, and it hides fingerprints and dust reasonably well. If you have kids or pets, they will smudge the glass way before they damage the metal.

One thing I liked: the unit doesn’t feel hollow or “tinny” when you tap it. I’ve had cheaper electric stoves where the sides sounded like a cheap metal drum. Here it’s more solid. The weight (about 33 lbs) is actually a good sign in this case. Also, the power cord is decent length and feels thick enough that it doesn’t make you nervous about running it at 1500W. Obviously, you still want it on its own outlet if possible, like any high-draw heater.

Is this high-end furniture quality? No. But for the price bracket it’s in, the materials and build are pretty solid. I wasn’t worried about it tipping over or melting anything as long as I followed the basic clearance rules. If you treat it like a real heater and not like a side table, the materials feel up to the job.

I obviously haven’t had this thing for years, so I can’t speak to long-term failure rates, but I can talk about how it feels after regular use and what safety features it actually has. After running it on and off for a few weeks, several hours a day on colder days, there were no odd smells after the initial burn-in period, no flickering lights, and no random shutoffs except when it went into normal cool-down mode.

The tip-over shutoff is a nice safety net. I didn’t slam it into the ground to test it, but giving it a decent shove and tilt got it to cut the power, so the sensor is there and working. The automatic power cut if it overheats is also reassuring. On top of that, the choice to move the vent to the top really does reduce the risk of overheating carpets or floors. My floor under it stayed at a normal temperature, even after longer runs.

Structurally, the all-metal body and glass windows feel like they’ll handle regular use fine. No wobbling, no loosening of the legs so far. The fan hasn’t developed any extra noise yet, which is usually the first sign of cheap bearings. That said, like any 1500W space heater, you shouldn’t expect it to last forever if you run it on max all winter every year. But compared to the really cheap plastic heaters I’ve burned through in a season or two, this feels more robust.

The brand mentions free return and replacement, which at least suggests they know some units may have issues and are prepared to deal with it. With a 4.3/5 rating over hundreds of reviews, it’s clearly not flawless, but it’s not a lemon either. My take: build and safety are solid for the price, as long as you respect the clearances, don’t block the intake, and don’t treat it like a piece of furniture you can stack stuff on.

Performance is where this thing is either going to work for you or not, depending on your expectations. On high (1500W), the heat output is decent for a small to medium room. In my 12x15 ft office with bad insulation, it raised the temperature about 5–7°F over a couple of hours when the central heat was set low. It won’t roast you, but it takes the edge off the cold and makes the room comfortable with normal clothes instead of layers and blankets.

The brand claims up to 1000 sq ft, which is optimistic. If you have a very open layout or poor insulation and you live somewhere really cold, don’t expect miracles. It works best if you give it a defined space: an office, a bedroom, a smaller living room. I also noticed the intake on the back matters a lot. If you push it right against a wall, the airflow drops and the heating is worse. When I moved it a bit forward into the room so air could flow behind it, it did a better job. So placement is important here.

The thermostat and timer features are actually useful. You can set a target temperature, and it will cycle the heat on and off to roughly maintain that. Don’t expect super-precise thermostat behavior like a smart home system; it’s more “good enough.” The timer is handy if you want it to run for a few hours in the evening and then shut off. It also has a cool-down mode where the fan runs after the heat cuts off, which is normal and for safety.

Noise-wise, the fan is audible. On higher settings, you can hear it clearly, but it’s not like a hair dryer level. In my case, I could still watch TV and work without being annoyed, but if you’re very sensitive to fan noise, you’ll notice it. On the lowest fan setting, it’s more of a background whoosh. Overall, as a heater, I’d call it good but not mind-blowing. It gets the job done in a medium room if you use it smartly, but it’s not going to replace your main heating system.

Out of the box, you’re getting a freestanding electric fireplace stove that’s roughly 23.5" wide, 10.7" deep, and a bit over 24" high. So it’s more of a compact stove than a big mantel-style fireplace. It weighs around 33 lbs, which is enough to feel solid but still easy for one adult to move around without help. Mine came well packed, no dents or broken glass, and the fake log set was already inside.

You do have to do a bit of assembly, but it’s minimal: basically attaching the legs/pedestal. That took me maybe 10–15 minutes with no drama. No wiring, no venting, just plug it into a standard outlet. There’s a remote control included that handles all the main functions: turning the flame on/off, choosing flame and log colors, setting the timer, fan speeds, and temperature. There’s also a touch panel on the front if you lose the remote or can’t be bothered to look for it.

Feature-wise, the highlights are: 500W/1500W heat modes, up to 5100 BTU, a claimed coverage of up to 1000 sq ft (take that with a grain of salt), 4 flame/log colors, 5 flame speeds, 5 brightness levels, and a timer. It also has a tip-over shutoff and the heat vents from the top instead of the bottom, which is a safety tweak from their older model. No batteries needed for the unit itself; the remote uses standard batteries.

In practice, what that all means is: you’re buying a space heater that looks like a little cast-iron stove, has a decent fake fire effect, and gives you quite a few ways to adjust the look and the heat. It’s not complicated once you’ve played with the buttons for a day, but it’s a bit more “feature-heavy” than the old-school dial heaters. If you’re the type who never reads manuals, you’ll still figure it out, just maybe not in five minutes.