Electric Fireplaces: Inserts, Stoves and Bioethanol Fires Without a Chimney

An electric fireplace answers a question no old house had to ask. The heating now comes from somewhere else, the flue is capped, taken over by a boiler or was never built at all, and what is missing is not warmth but the fire. Casa Padrino, one of the internationally known houses for luxury furniture, supplies fires that need no chimney: inserts for an existing opening, freestanding stoves in the cast iron manner, wall mounted fireboxes and bioethanol burners with a genuine flame, delivered worldwide.

This page begins with the technology rather than the catalogue, because the difference between an electric flame effect, a lit water vapour flame and a real ethanol flame decides what the piece can heat, where it may stand and how it has to be handled.

Electric fireplaces insert set into a carved living room mantel surround by Casa Padrino

Why fires without a chimney exist

A solid fuel fire is not furniture, it is part of the building. It needs a flue of the right cross section and height, combustion air, a non combustible hearth and, in most of Europe, the approval and inspection of a chimney sweep. All of that is a building matter, not a shopping decision, which is why the chimney free fire exists.

Three situations produce the demand. Once central heating became standard, developers stopped building flues, so a great many flats have no chimney in the structure at all. In period buildings the chimney breast usually survives, but the flue behind it has been capped, taken over by a boiler or shortened during a loft conversion, and reopening it means lining, sweeping and approval, in a listed building consent as well. And a rented flat rules out work on the fabric altogether. A fire that plugs into a socket needs none of this, and it moves house when you do.

Three ways to make a flame, and what each one delivers

The electric flame effect burns nothing. The old version was a lamp behind a slowly turning drum of angled vanes, throwing moving light onto a moulded fuel bed. Modern units use light emitting diodes and a rotating rod that breaks the beam. Brightness, speed and often colour are adjustable, and the effect runs independently of the heater, so the fire can be lit in July.

The water vapour flame is the more convincing electric method. An ultrasonic element turns water from a small tank into a fine cold mist and diodes light it from below. The flame rises, curls and dissolves, three dimensional rather than painted on a screen, and cool enough to put a hand through. The trade off is a tank to fill.

A bioethanol fire is a real fire. Denatured ethanol burns in an open steel burner with a moving flame that answers every draught in the room. It produces carbon dioxide and water vapour rather than soot, which is why no flue is needed, but it consumes oxygen and the fuel is a flammable liquid.

Be honest about the heat. An electric fire with a heater draws one to two kilowatts, enough to take the chill off a normally insulated living room and nowhere near a heating system. A bioethanol burner gives a comparable output but cannot be regulated precisely. Atmosphere first, extra warmth second.

Electric fireplaces close up of the moving flame effect behind glass by Casa Padrino

Inserts for an existing fireplace opening

Where the chimney breast is already in the room, the insert is the most convincing solution, because the fire sits where the eye expects it. The insert is a closed box holding the flame unit, the heater and the controls, pushed into the opening and plugged in.

The same insert also goes into a new surround, and a mantelpiece in carved wood, marble or cast stone gives a flat the architectural gesture of a fireplace where there was nothing. One distinction is worth naming: a decorative mantelpiece with no fire in it is a handsome piece of furniture, but it is a surround, not a fire. Our chimney free fires sit under electric fireplaces, surrounds in the wider fireplaces category.

Freestanding stoves and wall mounted fires

The freestanding stove asks least of the building. It borrows its shape from the cast iron stoves of the nineteenth century and the Art Nouveau period: a heavy body on short legs, a glazed door, ribbed sides, often a dummy flue collar, in matt black, in black with gilded detail or in cream. Inside there is no fire, only the flame unit and the heater. It stands where the cable reaches and turns towards the seating, which makes it the piece for a room with no chimney breast. Set across a corner, with a deep luxury armchair facing it, a stove gives the room a second centre.

Wall mounted and built in fireboxes take the opposite approach: a wide, shallow band of flame, hung like a picture or recessed so that only the glass shows. This suits a long wall in an open plan flat, and a double sided version divides two spaces while giving both a fire.

Electric fireplaces freestanding stove in a cast iron look beside a deep armchair by Casa Padrino

Bioethanol fires: a genuine flame, no flue

Everything above imitates fire. A bioethanol fire is fire, and for many people nothing else will do, because a real flame flickers irregularly and gives off the radiant heat no diode reproduces.

The construction is simple. A stainless steel burner holds the fuel and a sliding damper regulates the flame and closes the burner to put it out. The housing can be a low table fire, a wall panel, a slim column, or a burner set into a mantel surround, so that a period fireplace carries a real flame again.

The price of that freedom is discipline. The burner takes its oxygen from the room, it must stand on a non combustible base, and the fuel may only be handled when the burner is cold and out.

Electric fireplaces and a bioethanol fire burning in a modern living room by Casa Padrino

Room by room: where a chimney free fire earns its place

The living room. The fire goes low on the wall opposite the seating, with the sofa facing it. A mirror over the mantel doubles the flame, which is why gilded pieces from our mirrors range are so often bought with a surround.
The library corner. A stove, a wing chair and a reading lamp make a whole arrangement in under three square metres, and Chesterfield seating suits it.
The bedroom. Electric only, usually in flame mode without the heater. An ethanol fire has no place where anyone sleeps, and no fire of any kind should burn overnight.
The dining room. A wall firebox gives the evening a second light source alongside the chandeliers and lamps above the table.
Hotels, restaurants and lounges. A double sided firebox divides a lounge from a bar without closing either off. Pieces for this trade are in hotel furniture and decoration and on our page for luxury hotel furniture.
Holiday lets and rented flats. Nothing is altered, nothing needs consent, and the piece leaves with you.

Measurements, power supply and safety distances

With most furniture the measurements decide whether a piece fits. With a fire they decide whether it is safe. The instructions supplied with the model always take precedence over the general rules here.

Electrical load. A fire with a heater draws about 1.5 to 2 kW on its highest setting, which at 230 volts means roughly six and a half to nine amperes, comparable with a kettle running continuously. Plug it directly into a wall socket on a circuit that is not already carrying other heavy appliances, ideally one of its own. Never run it from a multi way adaptor, a thin extension lead or a cable reel that is still wound up, since a coiled reel cannot shed its own heat.

Where the socket sits. Plan the power point before the fire arrives. A socket beside the hearth or inside the recess keeps the cable out of sight, and a lead crossing the floor in front of a fire is a trip hazard. A new point in a chimney breast is electricians work.

Distance to textiles and furniture. Warm air leaves the heater at speed and rises. Keep the outlet completely clear and leave a free zone in front, about a metre as a working minimum unless the instructions demand more, with curtains, throws, rugs and cushions outside it. Never dry clothing in front of a fire, never cover the outlet, and check what sits above a wall mounted unit, because a screen in the rising warm air is a common mistake.

The opening, if you are fitting an insert. Measure width, height and depth and compare all three with the box, not only the visible face. Leave room behind for the plug and the cable, and check that the trim covers the joint at the sides.

Height on the wall. A wall mounted firebox looks right when the band of flame falls at seated eye level, usually about one metre above the floor. Higher than that and the fire reads as a television.

Bioethanol: air and room size. The burner takes its oxygen from the room and returns carbon dioxide and water vapour. Use it only where the air can be changed, never in a small or sealed space and never in a bedroom or bathroom, and open a window during a long evening. Manufacturers state a minimum room volume for each burner, to be observed rather than estimated. In Germany the recognised standard for decorative fires burning liquid fuel is DIN 4734 part 1.

Bioethanol: filling and lighting. This is the most important rule on the page. Fill the burner only when it is completely cold, never while it is alight and never shortly after it has gone out. Ethanol vapour above a hot burner can ignite from residual heat, and the flame is so pale that in daylight a burner which looks out may still be alight. Wait until the metal is cold to the touch, normally at least a quarter of an hour. Pour with a funnel, never above the mark, wipe up every spill and let it evaporate before lighting, and use a long taper rather than a hand held match. Extinguish with the damper or the tool provided, never with water, and keep the fuel closed and in another room.

Base and surroundings. An ethanol fire belongs on a non combustible base of stone, tile, glass or metal, standing level where it cannot be knocked over. Nothing flammable above it or within reach of the flame, and no draught strong enough to push the flame sideways.

Children, animals and the glass. The glass of an electric fire becomes warm but not dangerous. An ethanol burner and the metal around it become genuinely hot and stay hot long after the flame is out, so an open flame in a household with children or animals needs a guard and constant supervision.

Weight and the way in. A cast iron look stove or a stone surround is heavy and travels crated. Measure the front door, every turn of the stairs and the lift car before ordering, and arrange a second pair of hands for delivery day.

Delivery and care

Casa Padrino ships worldwide. Large and heavy pieces travel by freight forwarder with a delivery appointment, smaller fires by parcel service. Delivery is made kerbside to the address given; carrying the fire into the building, up the stairs, into a lift or into the room where it will stand is not part of the service, so please arrange help on site and check the route before ordering. We do not operate a showroom, so advice is given by telephone and email.

Upkeep is light. Wipe the glass when cold, with the cleaner sprayed onto the cloth. Vacuum dust off the heater grille now and then, since dust on the element is what produces the smell of a fire lit for the first time each autumn. On an ethanol burner, wipe the trough dry once the metal is cold.

Why Casa Padrino

Casa Padrino has grown into one of the internationally known names for baroque, Art Nouveau, Art Deco and contemporary luxury furniture, with customers in more than fifty countries and a catalogue running into thousands of pieces. In May 2025 our designer Marvin Schertl received the International Design Award for Excellence in Luxury Furniture, presented at a gala dinner in Cannes.

In this category we do not chase the volume market. Our part is the narrow one: surrounds carved, cast or turned by hand, and finishes that hold up at close range. Because the surround, the seating, the mirror and the light above come from one house, a fireplace wall can be composed as a whole. The most elaborate mirrored pieces sit under luxury mirrors, the seating around the fire under armchairs. The complete collection is at casa-padrino.de.

Electric fireplaces double sided firebox dividing a hotel lounge by Casa Padrino

Frequently asked questions about electric fireplaces

Does an electric fireplace need a chimney or a flue?
No. It burns nothing, so there is nothing to vent. It needs only a wall socket, which is why it suits a flat, a listed building or a rented home.

How much power does an electric fireplace use?
Typically 1.5 to 2 kW on the highest heat setting, and very little in flame only mode. Plug it into a wall socket, never an extension lead.

Can an electric fireplace heat a room on its own?
It takes the chill off a normally insulated room in the evening. That is supplementary warmth and atmosphere, not a replacement for a heating system.

What is the difference between an electric fire and a bioethanol fire?
An electric fire simulates the flame with light or lit water vapour. A bioethanol fire burns denatured ethanol with a genuine open flame.

Is a bioethanol fire safe indoors?
Yes, when used correctly: in a room that can be ventilated, on a non combustible base, away from textiles and draughts, never in a bedroom and never unattended.

When may I refill a bioethanol burner?
Only when it is completely cold and out, normally at least fifteen minutes after the flame has died. Ethanol vapour ignites from residual heat.

How far should furniture and curtains stay from the fire?
Keep the heat outlet entirely clear and leave a free zone in front, about a metre as a minimum unless the instructions require more.

Will an electric insert fit my existing fireplace opening?
Measure width, height and above all depth, and compare all three with the box. Check that a socket is within reach.

Can a fire be mounted on a plasterboard wall?
Not on the board alone. The fixings have to reach the timber studs, a batten screwed across them, or masonry behind.

How is a fireplace delivered, and do you carry it inside?
Large pieces travel crated by freight forwarder with a delivery appointment, smaller ones by parcel service, worldwide. Delivery is kerbside, so please arrange help for carrying the piece in.