Do I need a fireplace in my new home?

At Bespoke Fireplaces, we believe that you do need a fireplace in your new home. A fireplace serves many purposes, both practical and aesthetic; it acts as a supplemental source of heat, creates a focal point for a room, and ties together a room’s overall decór. A fireplace can also add value to a property upon its resale. As we explain in this article, the best type of fireplace to install in a new home is an electric fireplace. 

Why do newly built homes not come with fireplaces?

In the modern age, newly built homes typically do not come with fireplaces as an existing fixture.

This is a change that occurred in response to the evolving role and necessity of a fireplace within the home. 

Historically, fireplaces served an essential purpose within the home and were a staple element in new builds of the time. In the absence of modern heating systems, a fireplace would have been necessary to provide warmth for a property. It was therefore the standard practice to include at least one fireplace and chimney in all newly built homes.

However, nowadays it is less common to find a contemporary newly built home with a fireplace already installed. The change happened around the 1970s when central heating systems became increasingly accessible to homeowners. This led to a general trend of swapping out messy, high-maintenance open fireplaces for modern alternative heating options.

Another reason newly built homes typically lack an existing fireplace is to preserve the affordability of the property. The installation of open fireplaces, plus their necessary ventilation systems, adds to the overall cost of a new house. For this reason, they’re left out of new builds to avoid unnecessary expenditures that only push up the property cost.

Do I need a fireplace in my new home?

We emphatically argue that you do need a fireplace in your new home.

Beyond their practical uses, fireplaces serve much more of a purpose as a home feature; they act as a source of supplemental heat while being a focal point and a way to create ambience in a room. 

With that said, there’s no need to despair if your newly built property doesn’t already contain a fireplace or chimney. Advances in the market mean that homeowners are no longer limited to traditional open fireplaces. For example, with relatively little cost and minimal labour, you can install an electric fireplace anywhere in your new home.

Electric fireplaces are a great alternative to traditional fuel-burning fireplaces for those who want the feature without the hassle or price tag. We’ll further explain the many advantages of having an electric fireplace in the remainder of this article.

Reasons why you should install a fireplace in your new home

1. Efficient source of supplemental heat

Electric fireplaces can act as an efficient source of supplemental heat for your property. New build homes are built with energy efficiency and insulation as a priority; they also come with effective central heating systems. Nevertheless, an electric fireplace can provide an invaluable function of generating additional heat for the room they’re in.

It’s often the case that you’ll have one room in which your household members spend the majority of their time. For instance, if the whole household is in the living room, firing up the central heating may not seem worthwhile. It’s much more cost-effective to use an electric fireplace as a supplemental source of heat in these instances. An electric fireplace will begin producing palpable heat the moment you switch it on; it will continue to keep a room warm and cosy until you turn it off.

2. Creates a focal point for a room

Practically speaking, a fireplace creates a focal point for a room. The fireplace acts as a point where the whole household can gather; whether it’s to warm up or enjoy each other's company, no other feature can provide this same experience.

Electric fireplaces are the ideal choice for those seeking the experience of a real burning fireplace. Although they lack any actual burning fire, electric fireplaces can exactly replicate the look and feel of a traditional fireplace. The flames are an optical illusion created by an internal mechanism in the fireplace; this mechanism is either an LED light reflecting off a series of rotating mirrors, or a digital screen. The effect is the visual appearance of real flickering flames. The heat that an electric fireplace generates is also an illusion created by the fireplace’s internal heating element; this could be a fan-forced heater or infrared heating technology.

With both the flame effect and heating element combined, electric fireplaces are pretty much indistinguishable from the real thing. They create just as desirable a focal point for a room as a traditional fuel-burning fireplace would; your family can gather around an electric fireplace to enjoy the heat and ambience that only this feature can provide.

3. Ties decór together in a room

On the aesthetic side of things, a fireplace is often necessary to tie together the decór in a room. It may feel as though your living room in your new home is ‘missing something’ if it lacks a fireplace.

This is another huge advantage of choosing to install an electric fireplace in your new home. Electric fireplaces come in a wide range of sizes, shapes, and styles to fit every aesthetic preference and requirement. You’ll find electric fireplaces in modern, contemporary designs, as well as more traditional designs closer to the real thing. If you’ve just bought a new home, you’ll be in the process of decorating it to your liking; an electric fireplace is a versatile feature that you can use to achieve the exact look you’re going for.

4. Can raise home value upon reselling

Installing a fireplace in your home can raise its value upon reselling. You could potentially add thousands of pounds worth of value to your property by installing a fireplace or multiple fireplaces.

It’s simply the case that buyers are willing to pay more for homes with indoor or outdoor fireplaces. If you’ve just bought a new home, you may not be considering this aspect of your current investments; however, it’s still important to keep in mind in case you do decide to sell in the future. Adding a fireplace of any type to your property will increase its resale value, including electric fireplaces.

Reasons against installing a fireplace in your new home

1. Concerns over space

A reason why homeowners choose to forego a fireplace is the concern about the space they take up. Traditional fireplaces typically require a certain amount of space for the fireplace plus its chimney breast. However, this is not a concern to be had with electric fireplaces.

As we’ve already mentioned, electric fireplaces do not require a chimney or any form of ventilation system. You won’t need to install any additional structures beyond the unit itself for a safe and functional fireplace. Thanks to this, electric fireplaces take up minimal space in a room.

Furthermore, the versatility of their designs means that you’ll find an electric fireplace to fit virtually any space. For instance, in smaller rooms, you could choose an inset or wall-mounted electric fireplace; these units sit flush with the wall and take up no floor space in the surrounding area. For rooms with more space, you may wish to install a fireplace suite to create more of a focal point out of the fireplace. Electric fireplaces offer this diversity in their installation regardless of the available space in the room.

2. Fitting a fireplace into the surrounding room layout

Another common concern with installing a fireplace is how it fits in with the layout of the surrounding room. When creating a focal point for your living room, you may be weighing up between a fireplace and a TV; this leads to the issue of where to position the fireplace when you also have a TV.

Again, electric fireplaces eliminate this concern due to their versatility in design. For instance, you can create one single focal point for a room, including both a TV and fireplace, with an electric fireplace media wall installation. It’s also possible to hang your current TV over an electric fireplace; you just need to ensure the model of fireplace you choose can be safely used in this manner.

What is the best type of fireplace for my new home?

To draw our points together, electric fireplaces are the ideal type of fireplace to install in a new home.

They are relatively inexpensive and easy to install, require little to no maintenance, and are generally safer than other types of fireplaces. 

Running entirely on electricity, electric fireplaces replicate the exact look and feel of a real fireplace. To reiterate, they don’t require any form of ventilation system like a chimney or flue as they don’t involve real fire; the flames in an electric fireplace, and the heat it generates, are nothing more than an illusion. All that is necessary is an available power outlet nearby (like a regular wall socket) for the fireplace to plug into. This means you can install an electric fireplace anywhere in your new home regardless of its current structural features.

Another huge advantage of choosing to use electric fireplaces in your new home is their unparalleled safety. Traditional fuel-burning fireplaces naturally come with several unavoidable safety hazards; they always pose a risk of starting a house fire or causing burns to family members or pets. Again, as electric fireplaces don’t involve any actual fire, they are free of these potential dangers. Electric fireplaces also come with built-in features, e.g. auto-shut-off in the event of overheating, to further their general safety.

New build properties offer a blank canvas upon which you can build your perfect home. And, with the huge variety of designs and sizes available, electric fireplaces are an ideal feature to achieve this. You can pick an electric fireplace as a strong decorative starting point for a room; or, vice versa, you’ll find an electric fireplace that will complete the decór in an otherwise ideal living space.

Browse our range of electric fires