Are Electric Fireplaces Safe? What 4 Recalls and the Manuals Say (2026)

By Editorial Team · Updated October 31, 2026

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Quick Answer: Yes. An electric fireplace is one of the safest ways to get a fireplace look indoors. It burns nothing, so it makes no carbon monoxide, embers, or creosote, and the front glass on most models stays cool. It is still a 1,500W heater, though, and that’s where the risk is. All four electric fireplace recalls in the CPSC database since 2010 (about 794,000 units) were for overheating. The U.S. Fire Administration found that 48% of residential portable heater fires started with the heater too close to something that could burn. Plug it straight into a wall outlet, keep 3 feet clear in front, and don’t run the heat while you sleep.

Electric fireplaces get sold as the safe choice, and compared with wood or gas they are. But “safe” here means safe the way a good space heater is safe. You still have to set it up right. We read the CPSC recall record, the U.S. Fire Administration’s heating-fire data, and the owner’s manuals for Touchstone’s Sideline series (revision 251114) and Dimplex’s Vital Spark (2025) to find out where the real risks are and which features prevent them.

By the numbers

4 recalls, about 794,000 units: every electric fireplace recall in the CPSC database since 2010, all for overheating (CPSC recall database, checked October 31, 2026).
3% of fires, 41% of deaths: portable heater fires were only 3% of U.S. home heating fires in 2017 to 2019 but 41% of fatal home heating fires, according to the U.S. Fire Administration.
48%: the share of residential portable heater fires that started because the heater was too close to something that could burn (U.S. Fire Administration, 2017 to 2019).
36 inches: the front clearance Touchstone’s Sideline manual requires for furniture, pillows, bedding, clothes, and curtains. The sides and back need 0 inches.
12.5 amps: what a 1,500W fireplace draws on 120V, per Dimplex’s Vital Spark spec table. That’s why both manuals ban extension cords and power strips.
0: carbon monoxide produced by an electric fireplace. There’s no combustion.

Electric vs. gas vs. wood: where the risks are

Risk	Electric fireplace	Gas fireplace	Wood fireplace
Carbon monoxide	None (no combustion)	Possible, needs venting or an oxygen sensor	Possible, needs a working chimney
Embers and sparks into the room	None	None with glass closed	Yes
Chimney or creosote fire	None	None	Yes, needs sweeping
Hot front glass	Usually cool (Dimplex, Amantii, Touchstone)	Can get very hot	Very hot
Electrical overheating	The main risk (all 4 CPSC recalls)	Minor (igniter, blower)	None
Clearance to combustibles	36" in front of the heat (Touchstone), 0" sides and back	Set by the installation manual	Set by code and the manual

The difference is the type of risk, not just how much. Wood and gas risks come from fire and exhaust. Electric risks come from current: a plug, outlet, wire connector, or heating element getting hotter than it should. For gas units that vent into the room, our vent-free explainer covers why they need oxygen-depletion sensors and electric ones don’t. The full cost and upkeep comparison is in electric vs. gas fireplace.

Every electric fireplace recall on the CPSC’s record

We searched the CPSC recall database on October 31, 2026 for fireplace, heater, and brand-name recalls. These are the four that cover electric fireplaces or fireplace-style heaters since 2010:

Date	Product	Units	Problem	Reports
Mar 2010 (10-167)	Dimplex remote control kits (47-1001, 47-1010-R, APT-1315) for Dimplex and other brands' electric fireplaces and stoves, sold 1998-2008	About 700,000	Plug-in wall unit overheats	About 5,000 overheating reports, 19 with damage beyond the remote, 1 house fire
Mar 2014 (14-120)	Duraflame DFS-220 stove-style electric heater, about $60	About 31,000	Heater overheats, melts, can catch fire	32 reports, 8 caught fire
Dec 2020 (21-046)	allen + roth 62" infrared quartz fireplace, Lowe's item 466656, labeled "FEBO Flame" ZHS-30-A, about $700	About 48,000	Wiring connectors overheat	28 reports of overheating, fire, or smoke
Nov 2023 (24-023)	Style Selections 42" black infrared quartz fireplace 42HF295FGT (Twin-Star), Lowe's, about $200	About 14,670	Fireplace overheats	24 reports, 2 with property damage

Three patterns stand out:

Every one is an overheating recall. None involved the flame effect, the glass, or tip-overs. All four were about too much heat in a plug unit, a wire connection, or the heater itself.
Two of the four were Lowe’s store brands. The brand on the box wasn’t the company that built the unit. The allen + roth fireplace’s own back label reads “FEBO Flame Electric Fireplace Model Number ZHS-30-A,” and Twin-Star made the Style Selections unit. Our Lowe’s electric fireplace guide covers both.
Date codes matter. The 2023 recall covers only 42HF295FGT units built before January 2023 with seven specific date codes (0521, 0322, 0422, 0522, 0622, 0722, 0822). A later unit with the same model number isn’t included.

One heater is missing from that table only because it isn’t a CPSC recall. The Texas State Fire Marshal’s Office linked the Mainstays SHAG-G24F electric stove heater sold at Walmart to three fatal house fires, and Tennessee’s fire marshal later issued its own alert. CPSC’s database showed no Mainstays heater recall on October 31, 2026. Details are in our Walmart electric fireplace guide.

For a sense of how common heater recalls are in general: on October 29, 2026, the CPSC announced a recall of about 338,800 DREO DR-HSH015 ceramic space heaters after 17 reports of units igniting. Recalls like that are the main reason to register a heater’s warranty: the maker can then contact you directly.

What the manuals actually say

Marketing pages call these fireplaces “cool to the touch” and “family-friendly.” The owner’s manuals are more careful. Here’s what two current ones say:

Topic	Touchstone Sideline series (manual rev. 251114)	Dimplex Vital Spark (2025 guide)
Hot surfaces	"THIS FIREPLACE IS HOT WHEN IN OPERATION AND CAN CAUSE SEVERE INJURY."	FAQ: glass front stays cool, heat leaves through a separate vent
Front clearance	Combustibles at least 36" from the front	Don't use on soft surfaces like a bed or carpet that can block openings
Extension cords	Never a surge protector, extension cord, or relocatable power tap	Never an extension cord or relocatable power tap (outlet/power strip)
Unattended use	Unplug if not used for an extended period	"Extreme caution is necessary... whenever the firebox is left operating and unattended"; turn off when not in use
Children	Supervise young children; safety gate recommended for at-risk people	Extreme caution when used by or near children
Overheat shutoff	Temperature Limiting Control turns the heater off; reset by unplugging and waiting 5 minutes	Automatic cutout; "It will not come back on without being reset" (unplug, wait 5 minutes)
Certification	Tested to CSA standards for fixed and location-dedicated electric room appliances	"Certified to meet UL Standards"
Timer	Built-in shut-off timer	Sleep timer, 0.5 to 8 hours

Dimplex’s manual also says “All electrical heaters have hot and arcing or sparking parts inside” and warns against using one where gasoline, paint, or flammable liquids are stored. So “no sparks” is only true on the outside of the unit. Keep the fireplace out of garages and workshops where solvents are stored.

The real risks, ranked

Things too close to the heat. This is the leading factor in portable heater fires (48%, per the U.S. Fire Administration), and it’s the easiest to prevent. On a wall-mounted or recessed unit, the danger zone is the 36 inches in front of the heater vent, not the glass. Throw blankets, a Christmas tree, curtains, and a sofa pushed close for the view are the usual problems.
A hot plug or outlet. The CPSC’s heater poster says that if the cord or plug is hot, you should disconnect the heater, and if any part of the outlet is hot, call an electrician. Touchstone’s manual says the same about a hot outlet or faceplate. A worn outlet can overheat under a 12.5-amp load even when the fireplace itself is fine.
Extension cords, power strips, and shared circuits. Both manuals ban cords and strips. Dimplex’s Vital Spark guide requires a 15-amp, 120V circuit and says a dedicated circuit is needed if the breaker trips regularly. Touchstone says to avoid plugging other appliances into the same circuit. Our installation guide covers when hardwiring makes sense.
Heat left running unattended or overnight. That’s habit 5 on the CPSC’s heater safety poster. A timer handles it for you.
Cheap portable stove heaters without basic protections. The Mainstays SHAG-G24F case is the example: Texas investigators found it failed UL 1278, the safety standard for portable electric heaters, and had no tip-over shutoff. A recessed insert can’t tip over. A small stove heater on the floor can.

Can you leave an electric fireplace on overnight?

With the heat on, no. Every official source we checked agrees. The CPSC says never to leave a heater running “while unattended or while you are sleeping,” the U.S. Fire Administration says to turn space heaters off “when leaving the room or going to bed,” and Dimplex’s manual says to turn the fireplace off when it’s not in use. An electric fireplace’s heater is a space heater, so the rule applies.

Use the sleep timer if you want the flame at bedtime. Dimplex’s Vital Spark timer runs from 30 minutes to 8 hours in half-hour steps, and Touchstone’s Sideline 50 has a built-in shut-off timer. Set it for the time it takes you to fall asleep. For bedroom picks with quiet fans and timers, see our best electric fireplace for bedrooms and best electric fireplace with a timer guides.

Flame-only mode (LEDs with the heater off) draws a small fraction of the power, but the manuals don’t make an exception for it. Dimplex says to turn the fireplace off when it isn’t in use, so treat overnight flame-only running as your call, not something the manufacturer approves.

Kids and pets

Electric fireplaces remove the worst hazards for kids: open flame, embers, hot firebox glass, and fumes. But the two manuals we read stop short of calling them hands-off safe:

The heat vent is the hot spot. On most wall and insert models it’s a slot above or below the glass. A curious toddler or a cat sleeping in the airflow is the realistic risk, not the glass itself.
Touchstone recommends a gate. Its manual says young children “should be carefully supervised” and recommends “an adjustable safety gate to keep at-risk individuals away from the fireplace and hot surfaces.”
Cords are the other problem. Don’t run the cord under a rug, which is CPSC habit 2 and also in Touchstone’s manual, and keep it where a pet won’t chew it.
Mount high if you can. A wall-mounted unit set above toddler height keeps the vent out of reach. Touchstone’s support page says to keep a TV or floating mantel at least 8 inches above its recessed fireplaces with front heating vents. Our wall-mount guide compares units built for that setup.

Safety features worth paying for

Feature	What it does	Where we found it documented
Overheat cutoff	Shuts the heater off if internal temperature gets unsafe	Touchstone Sideline (Temperature Limiting Control), Dimplex Vital Spark (temperature cutout switch)
Plug temperature sensing	Turns the unit off if the plug itself overheats	Twin Star's Safer Plug on ClassicFlame and duraflame models: it "continuously monitors the temperature of the plug"
Sleep or shut-off timer	Turns the unit off after a set time	Dimplex Vital Spark (0.5 to 8 h), Touchstone Sideline 50
Thermostat	Cycles the heater off when the room is warm	Touchstone Sideline ("Thermostat with auto-off overheat protection")
Cool-front glass	Glass stays touchable, heat exits through a vent	Dimplex FAQ, Amantii FAQ, Touchstone Sideline Infinity listing
Safety certification mark	Tested by a recognized lab (UL, CSA, or ETL)	Dimplex (UL), Touchstone (CSA), Amantii (ETL or CSA)
Tip-over switch	Cuts power if a portable unit falls over	Matters only for portable stove heaters. The Mainstays SHAG-G24F didn't have one

If you’re buying a cheap portable stove heater, the certification mark and tip-over switch matter most. For a recessed or wall unit, look for an overheat cutoff and a timer. Our electric fireplace stove guide covers which stove models have which features.

A well-documented pick: Touchstone Sideline 50

Touchstone Sideline 50" Recessed Electric Fireplace (80004)

Recessed or wall-mount · 1,500W · Temperature Limiting Control · $549 (list $829) at Touchstone, Oct 31, 2026

Its safety rules are spelled out. The Sideline manual (rev. 251114) gives exact clearances: 36" in front, 0" at the sides and back, 8" above to a mantel, TV, or ceiling, and 6" from the bottom to the floor.
Overheat protection with a defined reset. The Temperature Limiting Control shuts the heater off at an unsafe temperature. You reset it by unplugging, waiting 5 minutes, and checking the vents for dust and lint.
Built for a fixed location. Touchstone tests the Sideline to CSA standards for fixed and location-dedicated electric room appliances, so it's not something that can be knocked over or moved next to a bed.
Watch for: it plugs into a standard outlet, but the manual bans extension cords and power strips. Plan for an outlet behind or next to the unit. Price is from Touchstone's own store on October 31, 2026.

We cover the Sideline’s sizes and how it compares with the Elite in our Touchstone lineup guide.

8-step electric fireplace safety checklist

Check for a safety mark (UL, CSA, or ETL) on the unit’s label, not just the box.
Register it and search SaferProducts.gov with the brand, model number, and date code.
Plug straight into a wall outlet. No extension cords, power strips, or surge protectors, and no other big appliance on the same circuit.
Keep 3 feet clear in front of the heat vent. That includes curtains, bedding, sofas, paper, and holiday decorations.
Feel the plug after the first hour on high. Warm is normal. If it’s hot, unplug it and have the outlet checked.
Don’t run the heat while you sleep or leave the house. Use the timer.
Vacuum the vents a couple of times a season. Dust buildup is what trips overheat cutoffs. Our maintenance guide walks through it.
Know what a shutoff means. A heater that cuts out and restarts after you unplug it for 5 minutes probably had a blocked vent. If it keeps happening, see our not-heating troubleshooting guide before you call for repairs.

The bottom line

Electric fireplaces are safer than gas or wood: no carbon monoxide, no embers, no chimney, and usually cool glass. Their risks are the same as a 1,500W space heater’s. All four CPSC recalls since 2010 were for overheating, and in fires involving portable heaters, the most common cause is something left too close to the heat. Plug it straight into a wall outlet, keep 3 feet clear in front, use the timer at night, and check the model number against SaferProducts.gov. A fixed unit with a documented overheat cutoff, like the Touchstone Sideline 50 ($549), covers most of the rest.

Sources checked October 31, 2026: CPSC recall database via SaferProducts.gov (recalls 10-167, 14-120, 21-046, 24-023, and 27-054, plus brand searches for Dimplex, Touchstone, Twin-Star, Duraflame, Mainstays, allen + roth, Style Selections, and StyleWell), CPSC’s “7 Highly Effective Portable Heater Safety Habits” poster (NSN-05-062026) and winter fire and CO safety sheet, U.S. Fire Administration heating fire safety page and portable heater fire data (2017-2019), Touchstone Sideline Series owner’s manual (rev. 251114), touchstonehomeproducts.com product listings and support page, Dimplex Vital Spark installation and user guide (2025) and Dimplex FAQ, Amantii FAQ, and Twin Star Home product descriptions of Safer Plug. Texas and Tennessee fire marshal alerts on the Mainstays SHAG-G24F as summarized in our Walmart guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are electric fireplaces safe to leave on overnight?

Not with the heater running. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's portable heater guidance says to never leave a heater operating while unattended or while you are sleeping, and the U.S. Fire Administration says to turn space heaters off when leaving the room or going to bed. Dimplex's 2025 Vital Spark manual adds 'Always turn off the fireplace when it is not in use.' If you like falling asleep to the flame, set the built-in sleep timer so the unit shuts itself off. Dimplex's Vital Spark timer runs from 0.5 to 8 hours in half-hour steps.

Do electric fireplaces give off carbon monoxide?

No. Carbon monoxide comes from burning fuel, and an electric fireplace burns nothing: the heat comes from an electric element and the flame is LED light. That's the biggest safety difference from gas and wood fireplaces. The CPSC still recommends working carbon monoxide alarms on every level of the home, because furnaces, water heaters, and gas appliances can produce it.

Can an electric fireplace catch fire?

It can, though it's uncommon. The CPSC recall database lists four electric fireplace recalls since 2010, covering about 794,000 units, and every one was for overheating: Dimplex remote-control wall units (2010), Duraflame DFS-220 stove heaters (2014), allen + roth 62-inch fireplaces sold at Lowe's (2020), and Style Selections 42-inch infrared fireplaces sold at Lowe's (2023). With heaters in general, the U.S. Fire Administration found that 48% of residential portable heater fires from 2017 to 2019 started because the heater was too close to something that could burn.

Does the glass on an electric fireplace get hot?

On most models the front glass stays cool. Dimplex's FAQ says the glass front stays cool to the touch, Amantii's says it always remains cool, and Touchstone says the glass on its Sideline Infinity stays cool on the front and sides with the heater on. The heat comes out of a separate vent, usually above or below the glass, and that vent and the air in front of it do get hot. Touchstone's own Sideline manual opens with 'THIS FIREPLACE IS HOT WHEN IN OPERATION AND CAN CAUSE SEVERE INJURY.'

Are electric fireplaces safe around kids and pets?

Safer than a wood or gas fireplace, because there's no open flame, ember, or hot firebox glass. They aren't hands-off safe, though. Touchstone's Sideline manual says young children should be carefully supervised and recommends an adjustable safety gate for at-risk people, and Dimplex's manual says extreme caution is necessary when the fireplace is used by or near children. The heat vent, the cord, and anything a pet can push against the front are the parts to watch.

Can you plug an electric fireplace into an extension cord or power strip?

No. Touchstone's Sideline manual says never to plug the fireplace into a surge protector, extension cord, or relocatable power tap, and Dimplex's Vital Spark manual says the same about extension cords and power strips. The CPSC gives the same advice for all portable heaters. A 1,500W unit draws about 12.5 amps on 120V, enough to overheat a light-duty cord. Dimplex's FAQ adds that using one may void the warranty.

How do I check if my electric fireplace has been recalled?

Find the model number and date code. Touchstone and Twin-Star print them on a label on the back or top panel. Then search the brand and model at SaferProducts.gov, which is the CPSC's recall database. Check the label as well as the brand name on the box. The allen + roth fireplace Lowe's sold from 2013 to 2018, for example, carries a 'FEBO Flame Electric Fireplace Model Number ZHS-30-A' label, and that's the unit covered by recall 21-046.

Is an electric fireplace safer than a space heater?

It has the same 1,500W heater, so the electrical risk is the same. A built-in insert or wall unit avoids two space-heater problems: it can't be knocked over and it isn't moved next to beds or curtains. Touchstone's Sideline is tested to CSA standards for fixed and location-dedicated electric room appliances. Small stove-style units are portable heaters, and the cheapest ones are where the trouble shows up. The Texas State Fire Marshal's Office linked a Mainstays SHAG-G24F electric stove heater to three fatal house fires and found it had no tip-over shutoff.