Touchstone electric fireplaces: which one to buy

Touchstone makes one heater and about eight bodies. Nearly every unit in the range is a coil wire heater with a blower, capped at 1,500 W and 12 amps on a 120 V circuit, producing around 5,000 BTU per hour for roughly 400 square feet. So the choice is never about warmth. It is about three things: how wide your wall is, how deep it is, and whether you want a bezel, a frameless front or three-sided glass. Get the depth right first — it disqualifies more Touchstones than any other measurement.

The names describe the front of the unit and the format, not the performance. This is the range as we cover it, one row per family, using only the figures Touchstone publishes.

Retailers often list a Touchstone by its five-digit model number rather than its name, which makes comparing listings harder than it should be. These are the ones we have from the manufacturer's pages and the series manual.

• The heater. A coil wire heater with a blower, stated by Touchstone on the Sideline 50 and Elite Pro pages and covered by the series manual. Fan-forced, not infrared — if you want radiant heat, this is the wrong brand, and our infrared picks are where to look.
• The ceiling. 1,500 W at 12 amps on 120 V. Around 5,000 BTU per hour and a 400 square foot supplemental rating across the range. No Touchstone heats more than another.
• Plug-in or hardwire. Every unit we cover can do either at 120 V. Hardwiring hides the cord; it does not add heat — see plug-in vs hardwired.
• The 8-to-10-second fan. The series manual states the heater fan blows cool air briefly before the element comes on and after it shuts off, to protect the element. It is normal, and it is the most common complaint in owner reviews.
• Front venting. The linear units push heat out of the front face rather than the top, which is why they can sit flush under a television.
• A one-year warranty. Standard across the units we checked, with paid extensions offered.

One unit from each family

Ranked. The running cost column is computed from each unit's rated wattage, not quoted from a manufacturer. Tap a row for the full write-up.

#	Product	Best for	Cost per hour	Price
1	Touchstone The Sideline 50The volume seller of the whole brand, and the unit every other Touchstone is a variation on. If you are not sure which family you want, this is the reference point.	Where to start	27.5¢1,500 W · 5,118 BTU	$549.00 · View on Amazon
2	Touchstone Sideline Elite 60 (80037)The same heater behind a glass front that runs to the edge, with a two-stage element, a real timer and the most flame per inch of wall.	The frameless front	27.5¢1,500 W · 5,118 BTU	$1,299.00 · View on Amazon
3	Touchstone Sideline Elite Pro 60 (80058)Top of the linear range: a deeper viewing area, a crackle speaker and thirteen ember colors — in a body that is also the deepest Touchstone makes.	The deepest firebox, and the newest	27.5¢1,500 W · 5,118 BTU	$1,549.00 · View on Amazon
4	Touchstone The Forte 40The linear format at forty inches — between the Sideline 36 and 45 on width — for a wall that a 50 would overwhelm.	A shorter wall	27.5¢1,500 W · 5,118 BTU	$549.00 · View on Amazon
5	Touchstone Sideline Fury 65 (80056)Five inches wider than a Sideline 60, in the format Touchstone markets under Made for 2x4 Walls — the one to know about before you frame.	Width without the depth problem	27.5¢1,500 W · 5,118 BTU	$999.00 · View on Amazon
6	Touchstone Chesmont Black 50 (3-Sided)Glass on the front and both ends, wall-mounted rather than built in — the cheapest way into three-sided flame in the range.	Three-sided glass without recessing	27.5¢1,500 W · 5,118 BTU	$999.00 · View on Amazon
7	Touchstone Sideline Forte Infinity Pro 40 (80064)The smallest of the built-in three-sided range, for a peninsula or corner where you want the unit flush rather than proud of the wall.	Three-sided glass, recessed	27.5¢1,500 W · 5,118 BTU	$1,679.00 · View on Amazon
8	Touchstone Fireplug Pro 33 InsertTouchstone's only unit shaped for a masonry opening rather than a wall — the answer if you have a fireplace and want to stay with the brand.	The one insert in the range	27.5¢1,500 W · 5,118 BTU	$1,099.00 · View on Amazon
—	Touchstone The Sideline 36The right Touchstone for a genuinely 36-inch wall, and the wrong one anywhere a 50 would fit: same depth, no low heat setting, fourteen fewer inches of flame.Skip this one	Skip — if you have the wall for a 50	27.5¢1,500 W · 5,118 BTU	$449.00 · View on Amazon

#ad Buy links are affiliate links — we earn a commission on Amazon purchases at no extra cost to you, and it never changes the ranking. How this site is funded. Running cost is computed at 18.34¢/kWh; see what these actually cost to run.

A standard interior wall framed with 2x4 studs gives about 3 1/2 inches of cavity. A 2x6 wall gives about 5 1/2. Almost the entire Touchstone linear range is 5 1/2 inches deep or more, which means the flush recessed install in the photographs requires 2x6 framing, furring, or a built-out chase in most American homes.

The practical rule: decide the exact model before anyone cuts anything, because the Elite Pro is over three quarters of an inch deeper than the Elite, and the Elite 60 is two and a quarter inches shorter than the Sideline 60. An opening framed for one does not correctly suit the other. Depth and clearance is the longer version.

Most of the range is stocked on Amazon, and those buttons are affiliate links that earn us a commission at no cost to you. Two units are not: the Infinity Pro 50 and 60 are sold brand-direct only, so on those we link to Touchstone's own store and earn nothing. They are on the site because a reader comparing the three-sided range should know the sizes exist, and leaving them out to keep every link commissionable would be exactly the behavior we criticize elsewhere. Where a button earns nothing, it says so.

Because the heater is the same across the range, so is the running cost. At the June 2026 US residential average of 18.34 cents per kilowatt-hour:

The 750 W low setting is the specification worth paying for if you will run the heater for whole evenings, because it lets the unit hold a temperature gently instead of cycling a 1,500 W element on and off. The running cost calculator will do the sum against your own tariff.

1. Measure the wall cavity. 2x4 framing rules out flush-mounting nearly everything here; it points you at surface-mounting, the Fury, or building out.
2. Measure the wall width. Buy the width the wall wants, not the one you were planning to. The most common regret is a 50 on a wall that could have taken a 60.
3. Bezel or frameless? At eye level in a finished wall, the Elite earns its money. Under a television, the Sideline is the same fireplace for less.
4. Corner or peninsula? Then and only then, three-sided: Chesmont on the wall, Infinity Pro built in.
5. Have a fireplace already? The Fireplug Pro is the only Touchstone for it — and the PuraFlame Klaus is the comparison to make first.