Dimplex Revillusion Electric Fireplace Log Insert - 20 Inch Faux Wooden Logs, Plug in Electric Heater; Remote Control Included - Supplemental Zone Heat | Model #RLG20

The media could not be loaded. We liked the realistic flame, ease of, set up and ease of use. This electric log set was placed in our wood burning fireplace in our living room. Since the chimney breast plate was not in good condition, we were advised our chimney was not safe to burn wood, or to use a gas flame log set, or install a gas insert. Upon reviewing the Dimplex, we thought that this was a great solution. We did have to drill into the back wall of the fireplace to pull a wire for the plug and disconnect the existing gas line. After the log set was in place we added small black lava rocks around the ash mat and around the gas stub to hide that. We used our existing surround with the glass doors and it looks good. The heater is nice and the blower is quiet. We are very happy with our choice of Dimplex.

The media could not be loaded. I live in an older house with a wood-burning fireplace but I don’t want the hassle, smokiness, and mess of burning wood so I decided to buy some electric logs to use when I wanted the mood of a fire. I knew going in that whatever I bought wouldn’t look exactly like a real fire but I hoped to find something that didn’t look totally cheap and cheesy and I’m very pleased with this log set.To get the “bad” out of the way first - the heater is weak. Definitely buy this for the look, not the heat. My living room is average-sized and in checking with a thermometer, running it on high for two hours didn’t raise the room temperature at all. My favorite seat is about 8 feet away and I couldn’t even tell the heater was on. You only feel heat if you’re within a couple of feet of it. My cats like to lay in front of it.Also, the plastic reflector piece is as obvious in bright light as other reviewers have said. My first photo shows the logs running in daylight with the curtains open on a picture window on the wall that’s left of the fireplace wall. (I darkened the edge of the shield before installation.) While I don’t love how obvious it is in bright light, I’m so pleased with the effect in dim light (when I’m more likely to use it) that the trade-off is worth it to me.Now for the good stuff. The “fire” looks wonderful at night or with the curtains closed. (See the video.) It’s soothing and subtle and while I’m sure there must be a pattern to the “flames” it isn’t at all obvious. In dim light, the flame pattern reflects faintly on the fireplace liner bricks as well as the reflective shield, adding to the effect. There are three different flame settings and I think the fire looks most natural on the lowest setting but all are good.The remote I received works perfectly and the controls are logical. The only assembly necessary was inserting the reflective shield into the slots and the logs were ready to use. There was no weird smell to anything.Overall, I’m very pleased that I bought this log set. If it lasts a few years, it will have been well worth the money to me.NOTE: I didn’t buy the ember mat attachment that’s available for these logs. I was on the fence about its appearance and at the time I bought the logs, the price of the ember mat was $80, which I think is insanely expensive for what reviewers have said is basically some molded styrofoam-like material with a few LED lights, so I created my own “ember bed” with some fire pit rocks and battery-powered LEDs, both purchased on Amazon. The cost was about half that of the ember mat.If anyone likes how it looks (see second photo and video), here’s what I did - I bought a strand of orange, battery powered, LED “fairy lights” for $7 and a 10 pound bag of “Marigold Glow” fire pit rock, which is a mix of black lava rocks and heat-safe orange and amber glass, for $34. I arranged them in front of the logs and TaDa!...embers! And since the lights have their own battery pack, I can use the logs with or without them, depending on what effect I want.

We replaced a ventless gas log set. Even though it was ventless, it still emitted some odor and the natural gas fumes tend to gradually yellow some items in the room over time. We like using the fireplace for ambience more than for heat, so we hardly ever used the gas logs because of the odor.We bought a free standing electric fireplace made by SEI to put in a different room, and really liked it. So I started looking for alternatives to convert our gas log fireplace into an electric fireplace, and came across the Dimplex RGL25.The beauty of the Dimplex is the ease of installation (we already had 120 v available where needed). No building in or trimming out required in our case - just remove the gas log unit, slide in the Dimplex, and plug in.The flames look pretty realistic, but you can see some undesirable ambient light reflection in the clear plastic flame projection screen and the outline of that circular screen, which is the biggest downside IMO. Some comments about that:1. I did black out the edge of the the plastic screen with a sharpie as some other reviewers suggested to help. We also have a wire mesh screen in front of the fireplace that helps hide the outline. I think if you have glass doors, the reflection from them would help hide the circular outline from reflection off the flame projection screen.2. I found that the outline of the clear flame projection screen was more visible with some fireplace light settings than others - primarily the backlight color and brightness settings changed things. Depending on these settings, the circular outline of the plastic was anywhere from very obvious to almost invisible. Viewing angle made a difference as well.3. Our fireplace is not in direct light, so ambient light reflections aren't bad - not sure if I'd recommend it if the fireplace was close to an exterior window that gets direct sunlight.4. Before I bought it, I noticed some reviews about the circular clear plastic outline, but thought if it was too bad I'd just buy a sheet of clear plastic locally, and make a rectangular piece to fit my opening snuggly. I thought that would make the entire opening look more uniform and more like glass doors instead of seeing the outline of a round piece of plastic in a square hole. But after receiving the item, the clear plastic is not entirely clear. There is an area coated with a mirror type gray paint, and some add'l area of it splattered with what looks like that same paint of covering. So my idea of making a new fitted rectangular plastic screen won't work unless I can determine what that coating is.5. I did see a review that suggested leaving the clear plastic out of the grooves designed to hold it in a curved upright position and instead just laying it back against the logs and leaving it flat. I have not tried that yet.Heater component thoughts:1. Doesn't put out a lot of heat, but works ok as a little chill chaser. Not an issue for us as we bought the unit primarily for ambience.2. Heater is quiet.Final thoughts:With careful settings and installation, the outline of the circular flame projection screen can be minimal, and we had a lot of compliments. Ideally, I would have preferred that it shipped with an oversized square plastic screen to allow cutting to fit the entire size of the fireplace. Admittedly I am very particular and somewhat of a perfectionist by nature, so take some of my criticisms with a grain of salt.I think square firebox style fully enclosed front glass (example: https://www.amazon.com/PuraFlame-Western-Electric-Fireplace-Control/dp/B01LA3VHHU/) looks better as related to ambient light reflection. But the install for that style is more involved (in our case I would have had to do granite surround trim) and in many brands the flame doesn't look as realistic.UPDATE: As another reviewer suggested, I've now tried leaving the clear plastic "projector screen" out of the curved groove holder as mentioned in #5 above. So instead of being upright and curved, it's now straight across and leaned back some. We like that a lot better! That positioning has greatly reduced the reflection of ambient room/window lighting, and it makes the flames appear a little bigger. Also I did check to make sure that doing this did not subject the lower edge of the plastic to overheating when the heater is running, and the lower part of the plastic closest to the heater still stays cool.Thank you to the other reviewer that recommended this!