Electric fireplaces in a cabinet or media wall

Most of this category tolerates being built in. This one is designed for it, and Dimplex says so in the opening line of its own specification page: the Revillusion built-in firebox "can give your existing fireplace new life or transform a cabinet or media center of your own into a stunning focal point". That is the manufacturer describing this page's project, which is not something any other unit we have documented does.

What makes it buildable is that the manual publishes a rough-in framing table rather than just a product dimension. For the RBF30 the framed opening is 30 5/8 inches wide by 26 3/16 high, at a framing depth of 12 1/2 inches, and the manual is explicit that the finished surround has to be cut to those width and height dimensions because the quarter-inch self-trimming flange "is only to create a finished appearance". A carpenter can work from that. There is no equivalent number on most of this category's product pages.

Two more rules make the joinery straightforward. Dimplex states the firebox "does not require any special venting", which removes the question people most often get wrong about an enclosed install. And it is described as "a zero clearance design, with the exception of the top of the unit, where any insulation and vapor barrier should be placed a minimum of 2" (5.1 cm) from the firebox" — one standoff to honor, at one surface.

The costs are real and they are the reason this is not the automatic answer. At roughly 12 inches deep it will not go into a 2x4 or even a 2x6 wall, so it needs purpose-built joinery or a chase — this is a cabinetmaker's project, not a weekend one. It is a firebox rather than a plug-in panel, and the higher output ratings need a hardwired higher-voltage supply and a licensed electrician. It is also by some distance the most expensive unit on this page. The full review is on the Revillusion RBF30.

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.

If the design is a long horizontal band of fire inside a run of cabinetry rather than a deep firebox, this is the one to build around, and the reason is paperwork rather than flame. Touchstone publishes a rough opening of 68 3/4 inches wide by 20 1/2 high by 5 3/4 deep for this model, which is the dimension a joiner actually needs and which most of this category does not print anywhere.

It also publishes the clearance table the rest of the page is built on. Measured from the front of the glass: 6 inches from the bottom of the fireplace to the floor, 0 inches at the sides, 0 inches at the back, and 8 inches from the top of the fireplace to a mantel, to a television or to the ceiling. In a media wall the 8-inch figure is the one that bites, because a shelf is exactly the thing people want to run straight above the opening.

The install instructions are unusually specific for joinery work too. The opening should be "no more than 1/4" larger than metal firebox portion of fireplace", the enclosure walls should be finished in sheetrock as you would finish any other outside wall so that clearance to combustibles is maintained inside the cavity, and the fireplace goes into non-load-bearing walls only.

The honest costs: at 5 1/2 inches deep it still will not sit flush in a 2x4 bay, so the cabinet back has to be built out. At 95.3 pounds it is a genuine two-person lift into a framed opening. Three flame colors is fewer than the Elite range offers. And Touchstone's own manual tells you to consult a local builder before recessing it, which on a bespoke media wall is advice worth taking rather than a disclaimer to skim.

What it does not do: At 5 1/2 in deep it does not sit flush in a standard 2x4 stud bay — you need 2x6 framing or a built-out chase. It is also the widest unit in the standard Sideline range and the heaviest at 95.3 lb, which makes hanging it a two-person job. Three flame colors is fewer than the Elite's six.

Most media walls do not need six feet of fire, and this is the one we would build into a standard run of cabinetry. Touchstone publishes a rough opening of 47 1/8 inches by 20 1/2 by 5 3/4, a firebox of 46 7/8 by 20 1/4 by 5 1/4, and a 59-pound weight — the same class of documentation as the 72 at roughly a third of the price.

The detail that matters most for joinery is easy to miss on the product page: Touchstone describes the unit as "designed with front heating vent so that the unit can be flush mounted into wall". Where the hot air leaves the unit is the whole question in an enclosed install. A front-venting unit exhausts into the room; a unit that vents upward into the underside of a shelf you have just built does not.

Everything else that applies to the 72 applies here, from the same manual: the same 8-inch clearance above to a mantel, a television or a ceiling, the same quarter-inch maximum oversize on the opening, the same non-load-bearing requirement, and the same instruction to finish the inside of the enclosure in drywall.

The costs are the 72's, scaled down. It is 5 1/2 inches deep, so a 2x4 back still will not take it. The flame is Touchstone's layered LED rather than a concealed-source firebox, which at eye level in a built-in is a visible step below the Revillusion. And it is worth knowing that Touchstone's own documents disagree with each other on this model's timer and weight — we go through that on the Sideline 50 review.

What it does not do: At 5 1/2 in deep it does not sit flush in a standard 2x4 stud bay. Recessing needs a framed cavity; surface-mounting it works but leaves the unit standing proud of the wall, which reads very differently in a small room.