The best electric fireplace logs

Measure the firebox before you look at a single log set. Width decides whether the fire looks like it belongs; depth decides whether it goes in at all. Then choose on heater type: infrared if you want it quiet, fan-forced if you want warm air moving. The infrared Duraflame DFI030ARU is the best value for a small opening; the Dimplex Revillusion RLG25 is the best fire if your firebox is at least 13 inches deep.

If you have not yet decided between a log set and a full insert, start with log sets vs inserts — that page settles which type you want. This one assumes you have chosen a log set and helps you pick between them.

Not heat, which surprises most people. Every full-power unit here is capped at 1,500 W by a 120 V household circuit, which is about 5,118 BTU per hour whatever the box says. What genuinely differs is how each one fits the opening you have, how the heat reaches you, and how much detail the manufacturer is willing to publish.

• Width against your firebox. A log set that is too narrow leaves a lot of empty hearth, and the fire looks stranded rather than set into the fireplace.
• Depth against your firebox. The measurement that disqualifies the most units. It is invisible in product photos and fatal in a shallow opening.
• Heater type. Infrared quartz radiates heat quietly; a fan-forced element blows warm air and makes some noise. Neither produces more heat.
• A low setting. A 750 W stage lets the heater run gently instead of cycling a 1,500 W element on and off all evening.
• Published detail. Some makers publish dimensions, weight, electrical ratings and heater type. Others publish a wattage and stop. We rank the ones that tell you more above the ones that do not.

Quick picks: electric log sets

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	Duraflame DFI030ARU 20" Infrared Electric Fireplace Log SetAn infrared quartz log set rated for up to 1,000 square feet, at a price nearer a space heater than a fireplace.	Best value, and the quiet one	27.5¢1,500 W · 5,118 BTU	$149.99 · View on Amazon
2	Dimplex Revillusion RLG25 25" Plug-In Log SetThe most convincing flame of the four and the most thoroughly documented heater — at a depth that rules out plenty of older fireboxes.	The best-looking fire, if your firebox is deep	27.5¢1,500 W · 5,118 BTU	$487.99 · View on Amazon
3	PuraFlame 27" Free Standing Electric Log Set InsertThe widest set here and the only one that states a 750 W low setting — with less published detail than we would like.	A wider firebox, and a lower heat setting	27.5¢1,500 W · 5,118 BTU	$279.99 · View on Amazon
4	Duraflame DFI021ARU 20" Electric Fireplace Log SetThe entry point of the whole category: a 20-inch log set with a 400 square foot rating and a remote that separates flame from heat.	The least money that still works	27.5¢1,500 W · 5,118 BTU	$129.99 · View on Amazon
—	PuraFlame Klaus 33" Electric Fireplace InsertA good insert, not a log set — it covers the firebox with glass, mesh and a brick-effect liner. If the original brick looks right, you would be paying to hide it.Skip this one	Nothing, if your brick is in good shape	27.5¢1,500 W · 5,118 BTU	$429.99 · 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.

The table below is plain arithmetic: the published width of each log set subtracted from three example firebox widths, halved, to give the empty hearth you would see on each side. It is not a claim about what size your fireplace is — measure your own and do the same sum.

How much margin looks right is a matter of taste rather than specification, so here is ours rather than a rule: a few inches either side reads as a fire set into a hearth, and much more than that starts to read as a small appliance in a large hole. If you are between two sizes and the deeper one fits, the wider set is usually the one you will be happier looking at.

Width is easy to see and depth is the one that catches people. Measure from the front edge of the firebox floor to the back wall, and do it at the height the log set will sit, because many masonry fireboxes slope inward toward the back. The Revillusion RLG25 needs 13 inches; the shallower sets need less, and the full reasoning is on log sets vs inserts.

Every log set here is plug-in, and the cord has to leave the fireplace somehow. In most homes that means running it out across the front of the hearth to a wall receptacle, which is safe if it is kept clear of the hot glass and never extended — but it is visible, and it is the detail people dislike most after a week.

The tidy alternative is a receptacle inside or immediately beside the firebox, which is electrical work rather than a shopping decision. It is the same job whichever log set you buy, and it is covered on installation cost. Whatever you decide, plug straight into a wall receptacle: at 1,500 W a log set draws 12.5 amps continuously, which is exactly the load extension cords and power strips are not built for.

At the June 2026 US residential average of 18.34 cents per kilowatt-hour, the two settings look like this. The low stage only applies to the PuraFlame, which is the one set here that states it.

Running the flame alone, with the heater off, costs a small fraction of either — which is why most owners leave the fire on through the evening and only call for heat on the coldest nights. The running cost calculator will do the sum against your own tariff.

In a masonry opening the choice is mostly about sound and where you sit. Infrared heats what is in front of it and is effectively silent, which suits a fireplace with chairs close to it. A fan-forced set pushes warm air further into the room, at the cost of a fan you will hear in a quiet evening.

Of the four here, the Duraflame DFI030ARU is infrared and the Revillusion RLG25 is fan-forced ceramic. Neither the DFI021ARU nor the PuraFlame states its heater type, so we have not assigned one. If silence matters more than anything else, our infrared picks cover the category beyond log sets, and infrared vs fan-forced explains the difference properly.