Review of Dimplex Chelsea DCF7850B Corner Standing Electric Fireplace, Black

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $649.00
Sale Price: $588.22
Today's Bonus: 9% Off

I bought this fireplace to replace a larger corner gel fuel fireplace that I'd retrofitted with glowing electric logs. I wanted something smaller and with a flame effect. This is a good-looking, solid piece of furniture that comes ready to plug in--absolutely no assembly required. Shipping was free, and the delivery man took it out of the packing for me so that I could make sure it was undamaged and that it worked. That was an unexpected extra.

FLAMES AND REALISM

The flames are fairly realistic, but you do have to be fairly close to the fireplace. When I'm across the room, I see the glow and flicker but not the flames, I suspect this is because the firebox is higher up, and if I were looking down on it, I would see the flames. (I base that supposition on the fact that I have a small electric stove in my bedroom, and the flames are easily visible from anywhere in the room, whether I am standing or lying in bed.) Had I realised, I probably would have bought a different fireplace with the firebox closer to floor level; however, it's not enough to make me want to send the fireplace back. The flames switch on and off with a remote. I haven't figured out whether the remote also controls the heater, but I don't think so.

Something to note with all electric fireplaces I've seen is that the mirror at the back (which gives the illusion that the flames are coming up from between logs) and the glass covering the firebox reflect what's in the room, which interferes with the illusion. My fireplace looks more realistic at night in low light, when it doesn't reflect the polished wood floor. My bedroom has dark blue carpet which simply reflects as dark and the flame effect of the stove is therefore more realistic at all times of day.

HEAT

I've turned the heat on to make sure it works, but it's not heater weather yet, so I can't comment on its heating ability in a cold room. I doubt it's powerful enough to be the sole heat source for my quite large living/dining room, but it will be fine as an auxiliary heater. And anyway, heating wasn't a prime consideration for me: I bought the fireplace for ambience rather than practicality.

BULB REPLACEMENT

I haven't actually done it, but from the directions it's much easier than bulb replacement in my little electric stove. The bulbs are standard candelabra bulbs with the small base, which are available in any supermarket and therefore more convenient than the halogen bulbs used by the stove.

BOTTOM LINE

An attractive addition to my living room. But if you have $2,000 to spend, look into the Dimplex Opti myst. Developed in Europe and previously sold only there, it is now available in the U.S. The technology creates an astoundingly realistic flame and smoke effect. Beyond my price range unfortunately.

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I love this fireplace. I have a decent size bedroom but the available corner is very small. I decided I would have to purchase some kind of stand rather than a fireplace until I saw this one. It quickly heats the bedroom, is attractive and fits in with the decor.

Best Deals on Dimplex Chelsea DCF7850B Corner Standing Electric Fireplace, Black

I was looking for a realistic electric fireplace that would work for our bedroom. This one looks good, realistic flames, nice heater,very happy with the product itself. Dimplex is the best brand of electric fireplace, I have 3 of them. This is a good product but I could not find any other way to purchase it except on line no stores carried this one. Love it... Hated the shipping. No problems with Amazon for all prior purchases but for this we had 2 of this item broken in shipping; the first one we returned because it arrived in pieces, second one kept because damage was minimal but I didn't want to take another day off and had no confidence a third would arrive without damage, and I really wanted the product. Bottom line; It is not packaged well enough for delivery. Carrier Home Direct service was poor. Drop and run, unhelpful, kind of rude, and refused to take the return on one trip due to poor communication with Amazon. Ended up waiting around the house on 3 different days to take delivery in the end of one slightly damaged product and to return a badly broken one! I will likely never purchase anything from Amazon again unless they are things like books or other non breakable items. "Free shipping" ended cost me 2 vacation days and my Saturday off sitting around waiting. Yikes!

Honest reviews on Dimplex Chelsea DCF7850B Corner Standing Electric Fireplace, Black

This electric fire place fit into our small corner space perfectly. The flames are very realistic, and I really like the way the "fire" is elevated off the floor. The drawer below the window is super useful for stashing the remote.