All Bionaire electric fireplaces plug into a regular 120 volt outlet, and use no more than 1500 watts of electricity.

Electric fireplaces are extremely safe, and family-friendly. Since there is nothing burning, there is no risk of sparks or fire igniting nearby objects. Likewise, there are no fumes, smoke, or chemicals being emitted, since there is nothing burning. The glass face on an electric fireplace will never get hot enough to burn people or pets that might touch the glass.

Most condos don't allow gas or wood-burning fireplaces. But electric fireplaces just plug in, so they are a perfect choice for condo dwellers. There is no 'fire', just a heater when you want it and technology that provides a realistic flame.

BTU's (British Thermal Units) are a standard of measurement which represent the heat value of any type of energy used to create heat. The amount of fuel that a fireplace will consume per hour is calculated with the BTU value of the fuel it uses to determine the input of that fireplace. BTU values of any type of energy are determined by the actual amount of heat required to increase the temperature of one pound of water, by one degree Fahrenheit.

The 'flames' in an electric fireplace are generated with light and shadows, usually against a dark or mirrored backdrop. There is nothing being burned in order to create the flame.

Almost all electric fireplaces include an integrated heater, which is separate from the flame generation. This allows you to have the flame effect while controlling the amount of heat, so you may run the fireplace with or without heat, but you will always have flames. Heat output varies from 2500 BTU's to 9200 BTU's, depending on the model.

A TV may be placed above most electric fireplaces, without any adverse effects to the TV. The exception would be any wall-mounted fireplace that pushes the heat out through the top of the unit. Since most electric fireplaces blow heat out the front or bottom of the unit, they create no problems for TV's or any other items that may be placed above the fireplace.