Joel Hendon

Reviewing the Regency 18 Antique Mahogany Electric Fireplace


Posted: Sunday, December 27, 2009

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http://hebronics.org/index.html

After years of desiring a fireplace, my wife had about thrown in the towel as far as getting one was concerned. I love them too, but to get a wood or coal burning one installed is far too elaborate and expensive for our budget, not to mention the polluting emissions from them and, I think more than anything else, the fire hazard they present, unless really installed properly and maintenance kept on them constantly. So for this, our 54 th wedding anniversary, I showed her some photos of electric models and we found one which suited her about as well as one could, I think.

I discovered several things, there are really an enormous amount of them and in just about every price range imaginable. We had several choices to make, first, the amount of heat it produces was not very important since we have and normally use, a gas furnace. We do have several portable electric space heaters which we use for heating a room separately from the others, etc. So, basically what we were looking for was one which was not huge but not tiny like a regular space heater. My wife decided, simply based on the appearance, on the model listed as our subject above. I ordered it on Monday, December 21 via the internet about 8:30 A.M. from a company listed as Mantelsdirect.com which website stated that it would ship the date order was received if before 9;00 A.M., free shipping. Our anniversary was the 23 rd so I had little hope of it being delivered by that time, or even by Christmas, for that matter.

About 4:00 P.M. I received an email stating that it had been shipped and I could track it by logging into Fed-Ex's website with the order number they provided. Just out of curiosity, the next morning around 8:30, A.M., I logged into Fed-Ex and pulled up the tracking for the order. It had been placed in the delivery vehicle from their warehouse in Anniston, Alabama at 8:00 A.M. Which is about 24 miles away. The man sat the carton inside our enclosed back porch at approximately 10:00 A.M.! Free overnight delivery. Received one day before our Anniversary and 3 days before Christmas. I couldn't believe it. It developed that it was not as amazing as it first appeared, since it was shipped from Florence, Alabama via Birmingham and then Anniston, a trip of about 150-175 miles. But if the dealer had been next door, it would still have been a fairly satisfactory delivery time.

The packaging was superb. A heavy cardboard carton, exactly the correct size to contain the fireplace with strong molded Styrofoam fitted into each cavity and holding it as steady as a rock. The fixture was fully assembled except for four short sturdy wooden legs which were easily attached securely. Then the only things left to do was to set it in place and plug it into an ordinary 120 volt wall socket.

As I said, the one we chose was somewhat smaller than most of the others. It was not chosen because of a lower price, and indeed there were several full sized ones which were actually much cheaper. But on the other hand, many were much more expensive also. The dimensions of this one is 35" high, 28" wide and 12" deep. The mantel Mahogany woodwork is very beautiful and it has a glass front enclosure with a beautiful wrought iron half circle above the firebox. See the picture here.

The heater uses 1300 watts of electricity and produces 4600 BTU's of very quiet fan forced heat. The flame technology is extremely impressive. None of the mechanism producing the flame appearance is visible. To the average viewer, it is difficult to accept that the flame as being unreal.

The heater comes with a one year warranty and it has parts which can be readily replaced. The flame scene is illuminated by three 40 watt candelabra type bulbs as are often used in chandeliers. The heat is produced by a Nichrome heating coil for efficiency and long life.

If you would like to see this and a number of other electric fireplaces, you may visit their website at: http://www.mantelsdirect.com/products-accessories

Author Biography: Joel Hendon was born near Gadsden Alabama. He attended public schools in Cherokee County, Alabama and after serving a tour of duty in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, attended Jacksonville State University, majoring in Business Administration. He became a Christian in 1948, and although he followed secular work as a career and retired from Allied Signal Aerospace, he is an avid student of the Holy Bible and related works as well as biblical history. He has an extensive website of conservative religious and political articles.http://hebronics.org/index.html

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