Electric fireplaces are rising in popularity thanks to their wide range of benefits including how easily they can be implemented into your house or apartment without the need for an existing fireplace or a chimney.

If electric fireplaces don’t require an existing chimney or fireplace then does an electric fireplace have a flame, and is the flame actually real?

Most electric fireplaces have a flame, but it isn’t real. The appearance of the flame can be created by a display, or by a light source within the fireplace from which light is refracted in a pattern to create the illusion of a flickering flame.

Electric fireplaces have come along way in recent years and many of the more modern electric fireplaces offer very life-like flames, so how do electric fireplaces make their flame look so realistic, and what are the benefits of having a flame that isn’t real?