Love the fireplace. It is a good compromise. My husband wants a ""real"" fire but I want the ease of turning on the fire with a switch and no mess. We bought this because we can now do both. When my husband wants a real fire he can easily just lift out the insert. We have had this for a few weeks now and we use the electric fire almost every night and he has not once resorted to a real fire. This one is much easier!