A compact electric fireplace is a wonderful center and focal point to nay intimate or family gathering. I use mine the whole winter through and as early as possible each year. As soon as it gets cold enough I have my compact electric fireplace going almost nonstop. I’ve been known to extend the winter months by opening the windows in the porch to allow chilly air inside.

Of course this only works well because the electric fireplace is located in the attached screened in porch of my home. Otherwise, it would simply be a waste of heating, as the other rooms would not be reached by the heat of the fireplace.

Though some people may feel comfortable with turning up the air conditioning to accommodate a nice crackling fire, I am not one of those people. Fossil fuels are short in supply and high in demand. It just doesn’t seem right to waste critical fuel simply to enjoy an unneeded fire.

This is also partly why I chose to buy a compact electric fireplace over a wood burning fireplace. Our forests continue to get smaller and smaller and responsibility has to start somewhere. Now many environmentally conscious people are quick to point out that the electricity that is produced at electric plants is often made by the burning of fossil fuels.

This is a very good point and should not be overlooked. There are, however, several other sources of electrical power. In the state of Texas, where I live, a few years back they passed laws that allow consumers to choose from several different power companies -a sort of breaking up of the power monopoly that was in place here.

With the advent of new power company options, I was able to choose the power company that I wanted to use and not be penalized in any way. After some research, I was able to find several ‘green’ power companies.

There are ‘green’ power companies that get most of their electrical power from wind and water mills. There is one large power company that manufactures electrical power by capturing the gases that rise off of landfills. While this may not be a very attractive source of power, it is a much more renewable source. And I like that it takes some sort of advantage of the already too numerous landfills.

That being said, I do try not to be too wasteful with running my compact electric fireplace any more than is really reasonable. For the most part, I run the fireplace on the truly chilly or cold days. Since I and my children spend a lot of time out on the porch anyway, this seems to make sense and not be particularly wasteful, as we need heat of some kind on the coldest of days.

Besides heat, the thing I like the most about my compact electric fireplace is the cozy ambience that it provides. We keep several large pillows and overstuffed recliners out on the porch. These are great items to have on hand for snuggling up together around a nice fire.

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