List Price: $1,299.00
Sale Price: $861.01
Today's Bonus: 34% Off
I purchased the Dimplex DF3015 firebox to fit in a fake mantelpiece that I had up against a bedroom wall. The firebox measurements on the Dimplex literature were very accurate and I was able to easily modify my mantle's opening and its distance to the wall in order to accommodate the firebox. I purchased the unit here on Amazon and the vendor was Wayfair. A salesperson from Wayfair called to state that I would have to remove the unit from the tractor trailer myself and that I should have help on that date. Fortunately, when the truck arrived, the driver stated that this was not true and he brought the item to, just inside my front door, as opposed to curbside, so that was a pleasant surprise.
As far as the unit itself, I did notice a growling noise after about one week when the flame speed was set to very high or very low. The flame speed adjustment on the remote has 9 settings and the noise occurred on setting 1 and setting 9. I removed the front glass and the log set and found that the noise was coming from the area of the flicker motor and flicker rod. I called Dimplex and they sent me a new flicker motor. Interestingly, the new motor came with a rubber piece to connect between the motor and flicker rod. On the one I had from the factory, the flicker rod shaft is connected to the motor with a flexible metal spring. On the replacement parts, they instruct you to cut most of this spring off and to use the rubber piece to connect the motor to the flicker rod. I believe that they are using this rubber piece to insulate and prevent vibrations from the motor from traveling up the flicker rod and vibrating it as an assembly inside the firebox.
Regardless, I changed the motor and the rod and added in the new rubber piece. Dimplex claims you can cut the 5 wires to the flicker motor and splice in the new motor with electrical quick connectors that come in the replacement kit. This seems to be a Mickey Mouse way of replacing a part in a brand new 899.00 firebox. As a result, I went a step further and removed the back glass inside the firebox (its a tight fit) and was able to find the control board that the harness plugs into. (A complete .pdf service manual is available on the Dimplex web site). Then I was able to just 'plug in' the new motor (the replacement motor does come with a complete harness with plug if you don't want to cut the wires and splice it in).
With that done I would say that the problem was 95% resolved. On speed 9 there is, not a growl, but sort of a slight clicking sound now with the new parts installed but it was not enough to be concerned and I like the look of the flame on the lower speeds anyway.
The heater is claimed to be a 1500 Watt type but that is sort of a misnomer. With a Watt Meter I was able to see that the heater operates on a low and high mode depending on what the thermostat reports (the thermostat is actually in the remote control so watch were you place that so you do not get false readings). When the unit calls for low heat a 600 Watt heater is activated and a low speed fan. When the unit calls for high heat the units supplies 1200 Watts and a high speed fan. The fan is fairly quiet on both settings which is a plus for bedrooms. The unit does draw about 200 Watts when the flame effect is on and no heat is desired so at full heat the entire units draws about 1400 Watts (1200 of which is heater element output). A dedicated 15 AMP circuit is ideal but may not be necessary as the unit draws about 12 AMPS at full power.
The remote control shows a digital display of actual room temperature (sensed in the bottom vent hole of the remote) and it shows the desired temperature you want the room to be. If desired temperature is 1 or 2 degrees higher than actual room temperature, the low temp heater and low speed fan will activate. If desired temperature is 3 or more degrees higher than actual room temperature than the high temp heater and high speed fan will activate. Once the desired temperature is reached the heater and fan will stop but the flame effect stays on until the power to the unit is shut off.
The flame appears very realistic and you almost think that it is a real fire. If you want the fire without the heater operating you simply dial down the temperature on the remote to a lower temperature than the room you are and it the heat will stay off but the flame effect will be on. This model also has Purefire which is simply an air filter that the air is drawn through anytime the fan is on. To filter the air you can have the fan on low or high without the heater by simply activating the Purefire button on the remote. Actually, the Purefire uses the same low/high speed fan that is used when the heat is activated. So anytime the fan is on (via heat or Purefire) the air is always drawn through the special filter. Another words, whenever the fan is on the air in the room is being filtered.
There is also a button on the remote that will activate a dimmer for the fire box's inside top back lights. This can add to the effect of the fire and make the firebox look somewhat deeper. The remote has a sleep timer setting which will shut the entire unit off. This is selected from 30 min to 8 hours and at any 30 min interval between.
For safety the main power switch can be shut off (if you don't mind bending down all the time as it is on the very bottom right front of the fireplace). I mention this because at first I was not bothering to shut this main power switch, I was just shutting the unit off with the remote power button. Then I discovered that my cats were walking on the remote and turning the fireplace on at times. As a workaround, I had an electrician make the outlet I use (behind the firebox) a 'switched outlet' so I simply shut the wall switch now when the unit is not going to be used.
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We purchased this Dimplex firebox and the oak mantel individually. We didn't like the cheaper firebox that Dimplex had switched to. The DF3015 is very attractive, although I have seen more realistic looking flames. Don't buy it for the heat. There isn't much there. Shipping from Wayfair was very fast, and when I had a small problem with the trucking company, Wayfair customer service took care of it right away. I would have given it 5 stars if it didn't seem overpriced.
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