Gives off great heat for cool fall mornings before the furnace gets turned on for winter. BUT, it is pretty noisy, no matter the fanheat setting that its on..low, medium, etc. Once in a while it gives a rattle when its first turned on but if I rest my hand on it for a second that takes care of it. The look when not in use almost looks black in our fireplace, no dimension of texture or color really. Wish that was better. When the fireplace light is turned on the 1st  2nd setting - that is what I was hoping for!! So Im happy with that. The 3rd setting is too bright  looks fake to me. Unfortunately this unit does not have a crackling sound but you can get those separate. Ive had it about a week  overall Im pretty happy with it. I would buy again if at some point I would need another.