How much does it cost per hour to run an electric fireplace?
In Asheville, an electric fireplace's heater pulls about a kilowatt and a half every hour, so your running cost is roughly 1.5 times whatever your utility charges per kilowatt-hour — a small, predictable amount you can read right off your power bill. With the heat off and only the LED flame lit, it costs mere pennies an evening.
Watch one run at our Emma Road showroom
Asheville is home turf — our showroom sits at 629 Emma Rd, so you can see a Dimplex IgniteXL Bold 50 in action before you decide, the same 50-inch unit we install from Montford to South Asheville. To pencil your own cost, find the price-per-kWh line on your bill and multiply by 1.5 for a full hour of heat; because that rate is a fraction of a dollar, an evening of warmth stays firmly in small-change territory. Leave the heater off and run only the flame in warm months, and you're powering LEDs and a small motor — a few watts that barely move the meter.
Where electric fits, and where a gas main beats it
In North Asheville and Montford, those original masonry fireplaces are handsome but drafty, and a plug-in electric quietly adds instant heat to a back bedroom or office they never reach — no venting, no chimney, no permit. Here's the honest local wrinkle, though: Asheville runs on natural-gas mains, and gas costs less per BTU to run than electric resistance heat while producing far more of it. So electric earns its place as a supplemental, roughly 5,000-BTU, single-room heater — about 400 square feet — not a whole-house answer. In a Helene-style outage it can't heat at all, where a millivolt or battery-backup gas unit keeps going.
Size it before you buy
City elevation holds Asheville nights in the 20s deep into spring, so match the appliance to the actual room. Come by the Emma Rd showroom or call (828) 545-0525, and we'll size electric, gas, or wood to your space at no charge — no pressure, and we'd rather point you to the right unit than the priciest one.
Fireplace help in Asheville
We install and service fireplaces throughout Asheville and the rest of Buncombe County — we're headquartered right here.
Related questions
- How much electricity does an electric fireplace use?
- Does the flame effect alone use much electricity on an electric fireplace?
- Does an electric fireplace draw electricity when it's switched off or in standby?
- Can an electric fireplace plug into a standard household outlet?
- Do electric fireplaces come in 240-volt versions, and do they put out more heat?