As electric fireplaces don’t have real flames, there needs to be another way for the flame effect to be created and the heat to be produced.
Electric fireplaces therefore either use LED screens to produce the image of a roaring fire, or use a light source (halogen bulbs or LEDs) to produce the effect of flames by reflecting the light in a particular pattern to imitate flames.
The light bulbs or LEDs that are used to produce the flame effects don’t also produce the heat. Electric fireplaces have separate components that produce the heat in the form of heating elements and blowers, or infrared heaters.
Below are pictures showing the inside of my freestanding electric fireplace. The top compartment contains the light bulb/LED and the fire effect components, and the lower compartment contains the heater components.
The lights are found just under the backing screen and logs. The pictures below show the backing screen and logs when the lights on the fireplace are off, as well as what they look like when the lights are switched on.
When the lights are switched on, a rod with angled pieces of reflective plastic start rotating just behind the lights at the back of the fireplace. Light is then reflected off the angled reflective pieces from the bulbs or LEDs, and onto the backing screen to produce the effect of flames.