Will An Electric Fireplace Add A Lot To Your Electric Bill?

As the days begin to get colder, all manner of heating implements are bound to see more use in the winter. Boilers, furnaces, portable heaters, and, of course, fireplaces. While not every home can accommodate a gas or wood fireplace, most can accept an electric one — though this also depends on output requirements, size, and so on. The thing is, gas and wood fireplaces can warm a space without tacking any added costs onto your monthly electric bill. Electric fireplaces are a different story.

With energy costs typically rising during months that have more extreme temperatures (summer and winter, mostly), it's understandable if you're a bit concerned about how much higher your energy bill could become. Ultimately, yes, an electric fireplace will increase your electric bill because it's something that uses a not-insignificant amount of electricity, and will most likely be left on for at least a few hours every day throughout the cold weather season. Just how much it will add to your bill is a matter of how often you need to use it.

With the average kilowatt-per-hour energy cost in the U.S. hovering around $0.16, and the average electric fireplace using about 1.5 kilowatts, you're looking at an added cost of approximately $0.24 per hour. Of course, this number can vary based on the size and precise energy requirements of a given fireplace model — as well as the per-hour cost of energy in your specific location (as little as $0.11, or as much as $0.30). Looking at just the averages, running an electric fireplace for 24 hours could add around $5.76 to your bill per day. On a particularly cold month, that could mean an extra $172.80 to $178.56 — if you left the fireplace on all day, every day. 

If you ration its use out to something more typical, like about 8 to 10 hours per day, then you're looking at something more like $1.92 to $2.40 per day. So about $57.60 — up to $74.40 — more on your monthly electric bill, if you use the fireplace every day for that long. Just how much is "too much" added cost for your monthly expenses is purely subjective, but in the grand scheme of things, an electric fireplace won't incur much on a per-hour basis. What it comes down to is how many hours per day, and over how many days, you end up using it. As always, if you're trying to save on the monthly bill, the key is moderation.

Using an electric fireplace regularly could result in a huge increase in your electric bill, and that begs an important question: should you get an electric fireplace at all? The answer is, "it depends." What has prompted you to think about buying one of these unique appliances? If the answer is that you simply want to feel cozy on dark winter evenings, then yes, you should consider getting an electric fireplace, as it'll serve that purpose. Simply running the appliance for a couple of hours in the evening a few times a week won't add much to your monthly bill, so if that's the only concern holding you back, then there's no good reason to abstain.

However, if you're considering an electric fireplace because your home is often too cold in the wintertime and you need something to provide the necessary heat, then you should consider something designed for heating large rooms or multiple rooms on a regular basis. Attempting to use an electric fireplace for this purpose may result in it running nearly constantly, which could result in a massive electric bill — and the fireplace still may not be enough to provide the heat output you require. 

That money would be better spent on something like upgrading your home's existing heating system, installing windows that offer better insulation against the cold, and winterizing your home to help ensure cold drafts aren't getting in and warm air isn't leaking out. The latter activity can include things like installing insulating plastic on windows, putting safety plugs in outlets to keep cold air from entering through them, filling any gaps around doors, and closing off any rooms that don't need to be kept at a comfortable temperature, such as a storage room.

The good news is that you can fairly easily estimate how much any given electric fireplace model will cost you by looking at the price estimates offered by the manufacturer. Many manufacturers list these estimates directly on the box or their websites, showing approximately how much you'll spend if you run the fireplace for X number of hours per day times Y number of days per week, assuming your electricity rate is around the average.

Alternatively, you can use an online cost estimator, which is a tool that lets you input certain details like how many cents you pay per kWh of electricity used, as well as your planned fireplace model's wattage (1,500 watts, for example), how many hours and days you plan to use it, and whether you will only have the flame turned on or if you'll use it to blow heat, as well. MagikFlame has a particularly robust cost estimator on its website. The benefit of using a tool like this is that the resulting estimate will be fairly accurate, as it'll be based on your particular usage scenario.

Whether an electric fireplace is worth it depends on your particular situation — if money isn't too much of a concern, you can comfortably afford it, and you know you'll use it regularly, then yes, it's likely worth it. If, instead, you need something to provide heat during the winter, you may find yourself frustrated with the electric fireplace, as it may fail to keep you adequately warm while also costing you a considerable amount to run every month. From a purely utilitarian standpoint, an electric fireplace isn't worth it.

If you're merely in it for the aesthetic aspect, consider an alternative that has become very popular: playing a fireplace video in full screen on your TV. This will provide the flame ambiance and even the crackling wood noises, but at no additional cost — unless you need to get something to stream on your TV, in which case you may need to spend around $50 for a streaming stick or Chromecast. Most modern TVs come with streaming apps built right in, however, and YouTube is full of fireplace videos with all sorts of sound effects and environments — and they're totally free to watch.