An electric fireplace is a type of fireplace that produces heat from electricity.

The main difference between an electric fireplace and an infrared fireplace is that conventional electric fireplaces use fan forced heating elements for heating while infrared electric fireplaces use infrared technology for heating.

An infrared fireplace is still an electric fireplace, but an electric fireplace may also use a fan forced heater rather than an infrared heater.

It can be common to see electric fireplaces producing heat through the use of a conventional fan system forcing air over a heating element to provide heat to a room.

It’s a simple concept used by many space heaters and is a cheap and effective way to heat a small room.

The main components of a fan forced heater found in an electric fireplace include:

• A blower fan
• A heating element

As an example, our electric fireplace stove uses this conventional fan forced heating system.

It works by pulling in air and forcing it out the front of the fireplace through a heating element. The longer the fireplace is on, the warmer the air within the room becomes.

Electric fireplaces that utilize this fan heating system can typically only heat areas up to 400sqft. It also takes a while for a room to heat up (we tested how long it takes here), but the warmth can be retained within the room for a short while after the fireplace is turned off.

Instead of a fan forced heater, some electric fireplaces use an infrared heater to generate heat.