Dimplex dfi2310 Review

I wanted to add a fireplace to our beach cottage, but the price of adding a real fireplace, not to mention the fire hazard, was impractical. Having all that extra heat in the middle of the summer was not a pleasant thought either. I wanted the romantic look and ambiance of a fire, without extra heat if possible. An electric fireplace seemed to be the way to go. I spent a LOT of time comparing all models, I even drove 2 hours out to a specialty store to view them up close and in person. After all my research, I decided to go with the Dimplex DF 12310.

I was told that the difference between this model, and the lower step model down (the one that looks just like this) is the fact that the cheaper ones still use incandescent bulbs, and this one uses LED bulbs, and it uses half of the electricity that the lower model does. Living on the coast, all of our bills are higher, including electric. So in the long run, the LED model was a better option for me. The logs below that are glowing, look exactly the same in my opinion. I think the lower end incandescent model has slightly brighter flames than the LED, but not enough to impact my purchase decision.

It doesn't put out a lot of heat, which as I said earlier,but at the beach, that's a good thing. In the winter, you can pull up your chairs about 5 feet away and still feel the effect of the heat, but beyond that it doesn't do much, especially with the open floor plan and high ceilings of our cottage.

The Dimplex model, either this model, or the lower model, both produce the most realistic flame I've personally seen in electric fireplaces. There are radiant heat fireplaces that do look more realistic, but unless you have a thousand bucks laying around, this is the best way to go.

I've given this 4 stars, simply because I'm not crazy about the "halo" effect on the background of the screen. If they could get rid of that, I think it would look much more realistic.

However after a year of owning this, I'm happy with my purchase and would recommend it. I've had no problems, and although I rarely use the heater part, mostly flame only, I haven't had any issues with it.