I always wanted a fireplace. They add so much character to a living space in addition to providing warmth during various snowpocalypses/snowmageddons/ice ages. The problem: apartments with fireplaces usually jack up prices since it’s such a coveted feature. Plus how many apartments have chimneys? Plus your traditional fireplace requires maintenance such as chimney cleaning, otherwise you have potentially hazardous and life-threatening conditions (if the chimney gets clogged you risk carbon monoxide poisoning)
The solution: portable fireplaces, right? Well most of the portable fireplaces you can find in Lowes and Home Depot are electric. They look stupid. They also consume a ton of electricity. Did I mention they look stupid? They don’t look like fire, they look like a glorified space heater. And they’re heavy, so they’re a pain to transport and they take up a decent amount of floor space.
So now we get to the point… ventless/portable/ethanol fireplaces! Ethanol is clean burning meaning no smoke, no carbon monoxide… so no chimney necessary. They come in a variety of nice, modern looking styles and some are wall-mounted (like mine pictured above). It just required four screws and it mounted on the wall, just like hanging a picture. The ethanol is cheap too, I bought 12 bottles for $65. And most importantly (at least on ebay) you can buy many ethanol fireplaces for less than $500 (mine was $300).