How-to · both installs

How to mount or recess an electric fireplace

Two procedures. The first takes an afternoon and anyone can do it. The second involves cutting a hole in a wall and a step you should not do yourself.

By Scooter M.Published September 2, 2026Last reviewed September 2, 2026

A drill being used to fix a bracket to a wall

Which procedure you need

Surface-mounting is a bracket job: find studs, fix the bracket, hang the unit, plug it in. Anyone comfortable hanging a heavy mirror can do it. Recessing adds cutting, framing and — the part that is not DIY — a receptacle inside the wall cavity.

Procedure A — surface-mounting

Find the studs with a stud finder and mark them. These units are heavy; drywall anchors alone are not adequate.
Set the height. Center of the flame at roughly 40 to 50 inches puts it at seated eye level. Mark it, then sit down and look at the mark before you drill.
Level the bracket and fix it into at least two studs. Check level again after the first screw — brackets rotate.
Hang the unit onto the bracket. Most are a hook-and-drop design and most need two people at 50 inches and up.
Plug into a wall receptacle. Never a power strip or extension cord — at 1,500 W this is a 12.5 amp continuous load.
Test on low first, then full heat, and let it run fifteen minutes to confirm the breaker holds and nothing rattles against the wall.

Procedure B — recessing

Check the depth first. A standard 2x4 wall gives about 3.5 inches of cavity. If your unit is deeper than that, stop and plan a furred-out or 2x6 wall before you cut anything.
Find the studs and work out what is inside the wall. Wiring and plumbing both live in cavities. Cut a small inspection hole and look before you cut a large one.
Mark the rough opening from the manufacturer's stated dimensions, not from the unit's overall width. These differ.
Cut the drywall to the marked line. A drywall saw and patience beat a multi-tool and enthusiasm.
Frame the opening. If it crosses a stud, that stud carries load and the opening needs a header above it with cripples either side. If you are not confident about that, this is the point to get a carpenter.
STOP. Electrical goes here. A receptacle inside the cavity, added by a licensed electrician. Manufacturers frequently specify a dedicated circuit, and whether yours needs a permit is a local question. Do not run a cord out of a flush-mounted unit — it defeats the entire purpose and looks worse than surface-mounting.
Fit the unit into the framed opening and secure it per the manual.
Patch, tape, sand and paint. This is the step that decides whether the result looks built-in or cut in. Do not rush the finishing.

Tools

Surface-mount	Recess (in addition)
Stud finder	Drywall saw or multi-tool
Drill and driver	Framing lumber, or a header kit
Spirit level	Circular saw or handsaw
Tape measure and pencil	Drywall compound, tape, sanding block
A second person	Paint that matches the wall, and a test patch

What it costs to run once it is in

What a 1,500 watt electric fireplace costs to run at 18.34 cents per kilowatt-hour
Usage	Hours	Heat on (1,500 W)	Flame only (~100 W)
One evening	4	$1.10	$0.07
A week of evenings	28	$7.70	$0.51
A month, 4 hrs a night	120	$33.01	$2.20
A 90-day winter, 4 hrs a night	360	$99.04	$6.60
Per hour	1	27.5¢	1.8¢

For a 1,500 W wall unit, either install. Computed as (watts ÷ 1000) × rate, at 18.34¢/kWh — the US residential average from EIA Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.3 (June 2026), released 2026-08-26. Your rate is on your own bill — put it into the calculator. The flame-only column assumes a conservative 100 W for the LED assembly with the heater switched off.

Worth knowing at install time because it shapes how you use it. Most owners settle into flame-only for the majority of hours and the heater for genuinely cold evenings — at under two cents an hour against 27.5, that is arithmetic rather than frugality.

Mistakes we see repeatedly

Mounting too high. A fireplace at 60 inches gives everyone a stiff neck and looks like a television that lost an argument.
Cutting before checking depth. A hole that will not take the unit is a genuinely bad afternoon.
Cutting a stud without a header. Structural, and not visible until something sags.
Planning to run a cord out of a recess. It looks worse than surface-mounting. Solve the power first.
Skipping the paint test patch. Fresh paint over a fresh patch rarely matches an aged wall on the first go.

Questions people actually ask

How high should a wall mounted electric fireplace be?

Center of the flame at roughly 40 to 50 inches, which puts it at seated eye level for a sofa. Mark the height, then sit down and look at the mark before drilling — this is the single most useful thirty seconds in the whole install.

Can I recess an electric fireplace myself?

The cutting and framing, yes, if you are comfortable with basic carpentry and understand headers. The receptacle inside the cavity should go to a licensed electrician — it is licensed work in most jurisdictions and the failure mode is a fire.

Do I need a header when recessing?

If the opening crosses a load-bearing stud, yes. Cutting a stud removes a load path and something has to carry it. If you are unsure whether a wall is load-bearing, that is the point to ask a carpenter.

How long does it take?

Surface-mounting: an afternoon. Recessing: a weekend for the carpentry, plus an electrician's visit, plus drying time for compound and paint across a few days.

Sources

Every figure on this page is either taken from one of these documents or computed from a formula shown on the page. Nothing here is recalled from memory.