We live in a 1970's style split foyer house with a lower level family room that loses heat to the upstairs, and for a number of years have used a kerosene heater in the winter to make the family room livable. The mess, the odor, and the trouble of keeping it filled with kerosene led us to consider an electric heater.
We saw a Dimplex fireplace in a furniture show room, and thought it was the most realistic electric flame effect we'd ever seen, but it was over $1000, which was not in our budget--then we saw this Dimplex "electric stove".
I had been a bit leery of the unit's construction, since other reviews had talked about receiving a unit with plastic legs broken in shipment. Mine arrived in perfect condition The rest of the cabinet including the "firebox" is made of painted wood. The instructions warn against doing anything that could scratch the surface, so I took additional care in handling. Overall however, for something that sits on the floor and doesn't get moved a lot, I was very satisfied with the construction. Fit and finish is very good.
Setup was fast and easy-- remove the protective plastic wrap and plug it in. The only "assembly" required was to put batteries in the remote control.
I very much enjoy the realistic "fire" and the heater does a good job of taking the chill off our family room. I have absolutely no regrets about purchasing the unit, even considering the bit of extra trouble it took to get it working correctly. I would buy this unit again.
