Dimplex vs Napoleon

If the reason you are comparing these two brands is that ordinary electric flames do not convince you, the comparison is already over and this is the product. Revillusion is a genuinely deep firebox — 12 1/8 inches — with a mirror-free viewing area and a herringbone brick interior, and depth is what separates a convincing fire from a lit panel. The effect survives being looked at from below and from the side, which is where almost everything else in the category gives itself away.

It is also the better-documented of the two brands' built-ins, which is not what the prices would lead you to expect. The Revillusion manual publishes a full rough-in framing table — for the RBF30 a framed opening 30 5/8 inches wide by 26 3/16 high at a framing depth of 12 1/2 inches — and states that the firebox needs no special venting and is a zero-clearance design except at the top, where insulation and vapor barrier must stay 2 inches clear. Napoleon publishes no rough opening at all for its flagship.

The heat is real rather than nominal: Dimplex rates it up to 8,794 BTU per hour, but only on the higher-voltage configuration, which is a hardwired job for a licensed electrician rather than something you plug in.

The honest costs. At 12 1/8 inches deep it will not go into a 2x4 or even a 2x6 wall — it needs a purpose-built enclosure, which is a cabinetmaker's project and the reason we wrote electric fireplaces in a cabinet or media wall. It is a firebox, not a plug-in panel. And on a standard 120 V circuit it is bound by the same ceiling as everything else.

What it does not do: This is a firebox, not a plug-in wall unit. At 12 1/8 in deep it will not go into a 2x4 or even a 2x6 wall — it needs a purpose-built enclosure. The higher BTU figures require a higher-voltage hardwired supply and a licensed electrician.

This is Napoleon's case, and it is the clearest example on the site of a brand selling something that has no competitor. The CLEARion is built into a wall between two rooms with glass on both faces, with a viewing area of 43.625 by 12 inches. When we last searched the current catalog the only true see-through electric fireplaces on sale were this and its 60-inch sibling.

It is also the single exception to the rule the rest of this site is built on. Wired to 240 volts at 15 amps it is rated at 3,000 watts and up to 10,000 BTU per hour, because the two heaters operate independently — one per room. Every other unit we list, Dimplex included, is capped at about 5,118 BTU by a 120 V circuit.

The privacy glass is the feature that makes the format livable rather than merely impressive: it switches between transparent and opaque, which is what lets a window between two rooms exist at bedtime.

And the costs, which are substantial. The 3,000 W and 10,000 BTU figures are the 240 V ratings on a 15 A circuit most living rooms do not have; on ordinary 120 V power you are back in the normal category. Napoleon publishes no rough opening for this size, no coverage figure, and no separate 120 V wattage — and the retailer and Amazon dimensions disagree by about half an inch in height and an inch in depth, so measure against the manufacturer's drawing before framing anything. The full job is costed on see-through electric fireplaces.

What it does not do: The same 240 V caveat as the 60: the 3,000 W and 10,000 BTU figures are the 240 V ratings, and the retailer specification lists 15 A, which is a circuit most living rooms do not have. Napoleon publishes no rough opening for this size, no coverage figure in square feet, and no separate 120 V wattage — we quote the 60-inch model's 120 V figure nowhere on this unit because Napoleon does not state it for the 50. Retailer and Amazon dimensions disagree by about half an inch in height and an inch in depth, so measure against the manufacturer's drawing before framing.

The see-through is the headline, but this is the Napoleon format more people actually need. A chimney breast, a pier between two windows, the narrow end of a galley room — these are tall, narrow surfaces, and a 50-inch horizontal slot is simply the wrong shape for them. Dimplex's range is linear and firebox; it has nothing for this wall.

The engineering is better than the format usually gets. Napoleon publishes 38 inches high by 16 wide by 5 1/2 deep, 1,500 W, 5,000 BTU per hour and a rating up to 400 square feet, with a hidden vent and angled glass that pushes heat out into the room rather than straight up the wall above it — which is the failure mode of a tall heater at head height. Four flame colors, five speeds and four ember-bed brightness settings, and it runs with or without heat.

It hangs and plugs into a standard 120 V outlet, which makes it the only pick on this page that is not a construction project.

Against that: it is six inches taller than the Allure Vertical 32 and meaningfully more expensive for the same 1,500 W heater, so you are buying height rather than warmth. It has been showing as low-quantity on Amazon, so confirm stock before committing a wall to it. And the whole range is decoded on Napoleon electric fireplaces.

What it does not do: Six inches taller than the 32 and meaningfully more expensive for the same 1,500 W heater — you are buying height, not warmth. Like its smaller sibling it has been showing as low-quantity on Amazon, so confirm stock before committing to a wall.