Review of Dimplex DFI2309 Electric Fireplace Insert

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $219.00
Sale Price: $170.45
Today's Bonus: 22% Off

The following is the manufacturers instruction manual in .pdf format.I did a little research on the Dimplex DFI2309 Electric Fireplace Insert and here's what I came up with: The manufacturer is Dimplex North America Limited a world leader in electric heating. The company has invested heavily in product R & D and has come up with some pretty innovative and interesting products. Dimplex North America Limited is a member of the Glen Dimplex Group of companies of Dublin, Ireland and employs over 8,500 people worldwide with sales in excess of $3.0 billion.

The fireplace insert distributes an even heat over a wide area by means of a silent fan-forced heater. It will produce approx 4692 BTU's of heat. The flames and heater operate independently of each other so you can have just flames or flames and heat. The fireplace is 100% efficient (like any electric heater). All of the energy supplied to the unit is converted into heat, which stays in the room to keep you warm. Many gas fireplaces advertise 70-80% efficiency. This means that 20-30% of the energy supplied to the unit is vented outside. The fireplace insert operates for pennies a day. The flames use slightly under 120 Watts of power with flames only. With an average electricity rate, the unit operates for a remarkable 2¢/hr. When you choose to activate the heat feature along with the flame, the unit uses approximately 1500 Watts. The total cost to operate the flame and heater is approximately 8¢/hr* (gas fireplace manufacturers regularly advertise running costs of 17¢/hr or more)! *Electricity rates vary. 8¢/hr based on the heater cycling at 50%. Unlike gas fireplaces, which require venting, fuel pipelines, the Dimplex fireplace just needs to be plugged in. When you need a change, you can move it to a different room and when you move to a new home you can take your investment with you.

The fireplace insert distributes a warm, gentle, even heat over a wide area by means of a silent fan-forced heater. Since it will produce about 4692 BTU's of total heat, when working in conjunction with the home's primary heating system, the fireplace is capable of taking the chill off just about any size room, when required. Most gas fireplaces produce over 20,000 BTU's of heat in a single room while the average size home requires only 90,000 BTU to heat the entire house. So there's a good chance you will be heated right out of the room your in with a new gas unit even when it's set to low heat. And what about conventional wood-burning fireplaces? As most of us already know, most wood fireplaces are difficult to start, smoke, create unpleasant cold drafts, and cause a number of other unseen problems. In most homes, they are between -10% and +10% efficient. They supply little if any heat to the house, particularly with cold outside temperatures. Bottom line: Conventional wood-burning fireplaces are extremely inefficient. They can lead to indoor air quality problems, and can result in life-threatening situations. Hence they are incompatible with modern housing, or with housing which has undergone energy retrofit/renovation

The fireplace insert plugs into any standard 120-volt outlet and does not require a dedicated circuit. It is as easy to install as plugging in a lamp! In addition, the fireplace does not require any venting pipelines for fuel or expensive professional reconstruction to your home. The fireplace has full electrical certification throughout North America and no combustible energy sources are used to produce the flame. This means that you never need to worry about oxygen depletion or carbon monoxide poisoning in your home and the unit employs an over-heat safety cut out with reset control as a back up safety feature. The only maintenance involved is done every 2 to 3 years by changing a couple of light bulbs, readily available at any hardware store and you can do this easily yourself. Most gas fireplaces require ongoing, costly maintenance, which must be performed by a qualified service technician on an annual basis. Figure on paying up to $300. dollars a year for this required service.

My personal experience with the Dimplex DFI2309 Electric Fireplace Insert came about some time after my wife and I moved to our new house. Soon after, she decided she had to have a gas fire log like we had in the old house. So, in order to keep the boss happy, I decided to go all out and buy one of the new efficient models that not only looked great, but also give off tons of heat, the only problem, the price. They wanted more than $6,000. for the log set including instillation. Ouch! I then stumbled on to the Dimplex DFI2309 Electric Fireplace Insert. For a price of under $200., I was a little skeptical that this thing could even come close to the expensive gas one, but after reading so many rave reviews on Amazon, I decided to go for it. I figured if it ever turned out to be a mistake, I could always return it anyways. Since I was saving a ton of money, I also splurged on the optional trim kit (Dimplex DFI23TRIMX Expandable Trim Kit for Electric Fireplace Insert) for an additional $160. bucks.

My next job was getting the existing fireplace cleaned out and prepared. I stuffed fiberglass insulation up against the flue door and cut a piece of Styrofoam board to fit the damper opening slanting to the rear of the firebox underneath the insulation so any possible water entering down the chimney would flow away from the unit. At the time, I was surprised at how poorly the damper closed and actually had been designed with a few open holes in it. I had to be losing all kinds of heat right up the flue before the fix. In less then a couple of days the unit arrived and within minutes I had it out of the box and set up in the center of the fireplace. I measure the cord of the unit to be almost seven feet and just made it to my electrical outlet, but a little elevated off the floor, so I purchased a heavy duty six foot 14 gauge extension cord to give it a little more length. The directions only call for a 16 gauge cord, so I'm way ahead of the game. Be advised, the cord runs from the right side of the unit (as you face it). Now the trim package is a little different story and took a little more than a few minutes to put together. It's kind of a one size fits all type thing. There are 15 pieces and a whole bunch of screws involved, but the finished product was very much worth it, for me. It frames off the insert and I think makes it look more realistic and complete. My fireplace opening is surrounded by a one of a kind type tile and I did not care to cover it, but the trim unit framed it exactly without any blockage. My only gripe, the screen is not designed to completely close and leaves a 3 inch gap or so in the middle. {as far as I can figure out}. I got around this by only closing the screen quarter way or so on either side which kind of looks pretty good and makes it symmetrical and frames it very nicely. Update: After studying the mechanics of the closing mechanism for a couple of weeks, I finnally solved the problem and I can now close both screens completely in the middle. I intend on leaving the screens fully closed as it really does look more realistic this way. Says something about the terrible directions that come with the trim package. If you already have a fireplace screen or glass doors, though, I'd probably stick with them as this unit is pretty pricey and time consuming to put together. By the way, the boss loves her new electric fire log and thinks it looks just like the real thing!

Update: Yes, I still love my electric fireplace insert and the longer I own it the more realistic it seems to get.

I have read in a few other reviews, some were disappointed with the mirrored half moon shape at the rear of their insert unit. Well, I finally figured out what it is designed to do. It reflects the back of the front logs with their reflective embers with the flames between the two sets of logs giving a pretty good holographic 3d effect and the grayed out portion of the mirror simulates smoke. Altogether, it makes for a pretty realistic looking fire. I guess you could call it the use of "smoke and mirrors" to get the desired effect.

Update: I have found that this 3d/holographic effect can be increased by placing ambient light near the front of the fireplace insert. I have two lamps, a table and a floor lamp, with one placed on one side and one on the other side of my fireplace about four feet away from the center of my fireplace opening. This extra ambient light helps illuminate the rear reflected log that creates the 3d effect. Though one light is sufficient, I have found that two low watt lamps works even better. (one a 40 watt bulb and the other a 3-way 60 on low)

I would like to address some reviewer complaints regarding the remote control. The first being that the remote has something to do with the plug. Readers are lead to believe that if the plug is blocked by something (furniture) the remote will not operate. Not so. The remote will turn the unit on and off from anywhere in the room regardless of whether the plug receptacle is blocked. For what it's worth, the remote turns the insert unit on and off from anywhere in the house-the remote reception is that powerful. I suppose you could always turn it on while in the bedroom in the morning and get up to a warm living room when you finally decide to get out of bed?

Which leads me to complaints regarding the remote not controlling the heat function. This is only partially true. Once a heat setting is chosen with the switch (high or low) on the insert unit, the remote will turn that heat setting on or off along with the fire display. Yes, it would be nice to make all the heat changes with the remote, but this is not a problem for me. Basically, in the warmer months you would turn off the heat setting at the insert and in the colder months you would turn the heat setting on at the insert unit. No big deal hitting the switch either way.

Finally, to make the simulated fire "feel" even more realistic, I've added the additional senses of sound and smell. First, I ordered a sound effects download from Hypnosis Health Care (on line for $6.95) to my laptop and then copied it to a 512 MB SD card I already had. I then purchased a Satechi SD Mini Portable Pocket Speaker Mp3 player from Amazon for around $29. and I put it in the fireplace. The Satechi unit is the size of a golf ball and is black which makes it very easy to hide and it puts out excellent sound and it has great battery life. It plays for more than ten hours on a full charge, so no interruption in the mood. Additionally, it works great with the Kindle Fire too. Second, I purchased some pinon pine incense from Amazon and also hid it in the fireplace. Now with the look, feel (heat), smell, and sound of a real fire, all that's left is to enjoy!

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I was surprised how realistic the fire looked when I first turned this on.

This is a solution to a thorny problem I faced. I have a rental property with what is either a faux or unfinished fireplace: depneds on your viewpoint. I didn't want to remove it,and i sure didn't want someone lighting a fire in it!

I had available electricity and available gas, but unvented logs, though heat-efficient, can oxygen deficit a room if one is not careful. (And who wants to be careful when sleeping!)

So, I took a chance on this baby at net $175 after using my prime and offered Amazon discounts.

The two speed heater and blower is just about right for a small room.

This loses its fifth star because the designers placed the remote receiver on the wall plg instead of the unit. It belongs n the unit, so you can simply point the remote at your fireplace, and it works.

In my case, the wall outlet is not reachable by line of sight, and so the circumstances rendered the remote control an otherwise nice feature unusable, and turn thisinto a manually switched fireplace.

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OK, so I was a little skeptical about buying the electric fireplace thingy. The doubts? It might look fakey, I wouldn't like the flames, it wouldn't put out any heat.

Wrong, wrong, and wrong. I am in LOVE with this product. I use it almost every day, and people who come over just cannot believe it's not real. One friend is replacing her gas logs after seeing my fireplace. One click of the remote, and you have a fire going. To be honest, I still don't understand how this works on a light bulb. The logs seem to glow, there are little embers that appear to be burning, and the flames dance around just like a real fire.

Oh Dimplex designers and engineers....I don't know how you did it, but you did. For $170 and free shipping (thank you Amazon!) I now have a cozy living room that I enjoy reading or watching TV in. This is truly an amazing product.

I guess you can tell I give it my highest recommendation!

Honest reviews on Dimplex DFI2309 Electric Fireplace Insert

This unit looks nice but is way over priced for what it is. If you are planning on getting good heat from the unit, forget it. It produces a small amount of heat only about one foot in front of your fireplace. I get better heat from a $12.00 heater with the same wattage and btu output. At the high setting the fan is to low, probably for sound reduction, and it may as well not even have the low speed setting. If you want something to look pretty in your empty fireplace then this will work. Sitting in there by itself looks bad unless you purchase (separately) the fireplace trim and screen kit that all looks good when completed. The problem? Thats right, the cost. Another $200.00 plus. And when it comes time to change the 2 bulbs that create the simulated look of fire, you have to take it all apart. Half the price for the combined package would be a fair value.

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The flame does look very real. This fireplace insert is a great product in general. I took out 1 star for 2 minor reasons though:

1. The remote only switches on and off. It can not control the heat setting. So you still have to approach the unit for heat setting changes. One good thing is that the remote is wireless (433MHz). So you don't need line-of-sight between remote and the power switch for it to work. Hiding the power cord is much easier with the wireless remote.

2. Although the fire looks real, it may not be as bright as real fire. I guess fake fire may just have its limitation.

Despite of these minor concerns, the unit is pretty well designed. One great advantage is that you get to use the fireplace all year long even

in the hottest day.