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A lot of you know that I’m improving my space this month (primer is going on the walls!!!). I’d like to add an electric fireplace - do you think that would be a draw for guests? The space will use electric space heaters through the winter anyway.
If so, do you think in the kitchen/living area, or in the smaller bedroom where (usually) the parents sleep?
I love looking at any kind of fire!!
I would put it in the Kitchen Living area. Actually that would be a draw for guests as well if staying in colder areas.
Yes, and it’s a basement apartment, so any feeling of ‘warmth’ I can give it will be a bonus. Thanks.
Cheap and cheerful! When the photographer came out to take his shots it was one of the first things he commented on. Starbucks, Tim Horton’s and even McDonalds has cashed in on this trend to create that cozy feeling. Go for it!
Take a look. https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/8992002
I would put in the living area if you think your guests like to hang out there planning things to do for the next day, or playing board games, etc. Do a lot of your guests bring back take out and eat in that area?
That’s a beautiful little fire place! Thanks for the tips!
It varies. Some people arrive with coolers and bags, some people might use a glass. Some families come back after dinner, some stay out all night!
And I don’t know to much what they do downstairs. I’ll have to keep an ear and an eye out for more info! Good thought!
I totally adore your listing and have written about it a couple of times on my site 
So I’m very familiar with it. To me, (sorry) the one area that needs improvement is living area. (Just going by the photographs). But I love the kitchen. So I think an electric fireplace in the living area would be GREAT!
Yes, you are right!! It has been sad, but we are working on it. The floor is to be painted, we’ll get a different rug - and I hope to position the table in such a way - closer to the counter - as to open up the living area a bit more.
When we first opened that room wasn’t even finished and it was 80% crammed with stuff. Hard to believe we’ve pared down to just a small storage area - even with our camping stuff. It’s such a better use of our space, it’s a great feeling.
Your comments are so kind - and so welcome at the time. It’s dead dead dead dead dead (3rd time I’ve posted that today!!). I look forward to the fog lifting and my little phone chiming at me again.
Funny thing is, I thought with this two week break for the construction I’d have some time to look into other modes of advertising - but I forgot how consuming construction itself is. Wait till you’ve seen the changes. I’m loving it so much. We got paint on the new bedroom walls today. It’s amazing having a contractor that shows up on time every day, and works all day. My husbands working at the poles tonight and I can’t wait for him to come home and we walk through it together.
I’m looking forward to seeing it
I love your place and your hosting philosophy.
We have electric fireplaces in every bedroom. When we only have one or two couples here (we have 4 rooms) it is much better to let them use the electric fireplace in the room instead of me having to heat up the whole upstairs. I have a gas fireplace downstairs so the heath from that one heats up the common area upstairs and downstairs. Most people love the idea of a fireplace.
I added an electric fireplace to my backyard studio and it has been a big hit. Technically it is one of those small electric fake wood stoves and I bought it at Walmart a few years ago. But I found a fake mantel at a thrift store and painted it and it fit the “stove” well. Guests have responded well to it. Those that use the backyard studio anyway.
They can be expensive to run, though, so a little research may help in the long run.
Wow, that’s truly adorable. I love it. What a find at the thrift store! I love the look of those little stoves. I don’t think I have any floor space to spare, unfortunately. Once we get the furniture in we’ll see. I’m hoping to re-position the kitchen table to open up more of a living area.
Good advice on doing some research. One thing that gives me pause is the great range of prices. One wall fireplace looks great at $175, and one that looks very much the same is $375. Surely there’s a reason.
We use space heaters in the area anyway, so I’m hoping to cost to run them is about the same.
The contractors finished, cleaned up, got paid, and left today. They were an amazing crew. Now we are faced with all the detailed clean-up and getting the new bedroom put together. I’m very pleased with how everything came out with the exception of the color in the hallway.
Now all I need are some bookings…
[quote=“dcmooney, post:13, topic:9536, full:true”]
We use space heaters in the area anyway, so I’m hoping to cost to run them is about the same.[/quote]
Where I live, Connecticut, electric is the most expensive way to heat. I used to think natural gas was the way to go since that was what my prior home had. I have forced air, oil heat now. It truly is the most efficient way to heat. Way more heat than the gas system ever provided. The area heats up much faster so less fuel is used. My place has three zones so I can control what section is heated and to what degree any time of the day or night.
Any reason you cannot modify your central heating system to include the basement or is the whole house on electric heat?
Two of the bedrooms do get the central heat - which is natural gas. But the kitchen area does not - there is no duct work.
If we’d had a decent contractor when we had that room finished we may have added some ducts. But, the duct system in our house is terrible anyway. Two of the bedrooms on the main floor have heat pouring into them, but my bedroom gets very little.
Yeah, if I could start over, 3 contractors ago, I’d tear it all our and start again. But it’s all sheet-rocked now, so there you are.
Since the guest rooms are in the basement, they are chilly even getting the heat. We just finished tearing out and rebuilding the smaller bedroom and insulating it. It didn’t have a stitch of insulation previously.
Not that it seems like its going to matter - I’m getting zero activity these days.
Assuming there is duct work to the rooms that get little heat and you’re able to get to them, there is a low cost solution you can consider. There are fans that are made to fit the round (8" I believe) ducts that come with an automatic sensor/switch. You only need to have access to an electric outlet… preferably in the ceiling… where you can plug these units in.
When they sense hot air coming down the pipe they turn on and boost that warm air to the register(s). Sold at home stores in the heating supply section for around $50 - $60.
I will be installing one of these feeding my guest room. It’s at the very end of the chain and gets little heat. I have a suspended ceiling so it will be easy to do.
There are many options on line
You can check the best electric fireplace here:
http://gearupz.com/best-electric-fireplace/
Thanks for sharing that article. Along similar lines I found yet another useful blog on best electric fireplace which might come in useful(http://www.homeair.org/best-electric-fireplace-reviews/).
It gives importance for safety by making stove housing from metal which would also gift an authentic look. Have carbon monoxide poisoning detectors installed at the right places.
Have a look at various reviews too.
It is a big plus! You can buy them rather inexpensively on the Internet like on overstock.com or Amazon I think I paid $300 for one of them and 500 for another I bought a plane classy white electric fireplace . I put one of them in a long-term rental in the Master bedroom and I put the other one in my Airbnb. I can’t tell you how many compliments I’ve gotten on the fireplace! It’s also helped my reviews as people mention it frequently in the review. on the electric option you can choose to just have the ambiance fire on., without heat and the guest just loves that ! In fact when I do my walk through I always turn the fireplace on , I think I would put it in their bedroom where they can enjoy it .
