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Head-to-head · Best Electric Fireplaces

PuraFlame Klaus 33-inch Electric Fireplace Insert vs Touchstone Sideline 50-inch (80004)

Which is the better buy? Side-by-side on rating, price, strengths, and watch-outs — with the published ratings we averaged to get there.

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The short answer

Touchstone Sideline 50-inch (80004) comes out ahead by a narrow margin (4.5 vs 4.6). The gap is mostly about homeowners framing a permanent media wall who want a flush recessed fireplace with working app and voice control — read the strengths below before deciding.

PuraFlame Klaus 33-inch Electric Fireplace Insert
Ranked #3 in Best Electric Fireplaces
PuraFlame Klaus 33-inch Electric Fireplace Insert
3 sources2 derived$419.99

The Klaus is Bob Vila's overall pick for the category and Popular Mechanics' best traditional insert, and both awards come down to the front face: double glass doors, a mesh curtain, and a three-sided brick liner behind a resin log on a grate. It is a conversion product, meant to drop into a hearth or a framed cutout, and the flat bottom means it can sit straight on the floor of an opening with no hearth built under it. Popular Mechanics puts the output above 5,000 BTU for rooms up to 400 square feet. The reservations are consistent across both publications: the crackling audio does not convince, the control panel sits where you can see it, and there is no hardwire option.

Strengths
  • — Double glass doors and a mesh curtain in front of the fire, so the front face reads as a real firebox rather than a lit panel
  • — Flat bottom lets it sit directly on the floor of a hearthless opening with no plinth to build
  • — Three-sided brick liner behind a resin log on a grate, which is what Bob Vila built its overall pick around
Watch-outs
  • — Bob Vila's single con is that the crackling sound effect is not very realistic
  • — Popular Mechanics calls the front-mounted control panel conspicuous on an insert designed to look traditional
  • — Cannot be hardwired, so the cord has to be planned for or hidden
$419.99 · Check Price on AmazonFull review →
Touchstone Sideline 50-inch (80004)
Higher ratedRanked #1 in Best Electric Fireplaces
Touchstone Sideline 50-inch (80004)
2 sources1 derived$549

The Sideline 50 is the recessed Touchstone that turns up in more editorial round-ups than any other electric fireplace, and the reason is the front heat vent: it exhausts through the face of the unit, so the frame can sit flush in a framed opening without a clearance gap. This Old House scores it 4.7 out of 5 and makes it their overall pick; Reviewed likes that it stays cool on the back and sides so it can live inside a wall cavity. The heater is a 1,500W coil with a blower rated at 5,000 BTU and about 400 square feet, and both publications are blunt that it will not warm a large room. What you are buying is a permanent architectural element with working app and voice control, not a heat source.

Strengths
  • — Front-mounted heat vent lets the frame sit flush in the wall instead of needing a clearance gap above it
  • — Three flame colours across five intensity levels plus a separately switched ten-colour ember bed, published as thirty combinations
  • — Wi-Fi app control with Amazon Alexa and Google Home certification, plus an included infrared remote
Watch-outs
  • — The 1,500W coil heater is rated at 5,000 BTU for about 400 square feet, which Touchstone itself describes as supplemental only
  • — Reviewed lists "Won't heat a large space" as a con and This Old House logged buyers who called the heater ineffective
  • — This Old House also records a finicky remote among owner complaints
$549 · Check Price on AmazonFull review →

Derived means the reviewer published no score, so one was inferred from their written verdict. Everything else is a number the publisher printed. How we rank.

How they stack up

PuraFlame Klaus 33-inch Electric Fireplace Insert

Shares its width with the PuraFlame Western 33-inch Electric Fireplace Insert but is about four inches shorter and closes the fire behind glass doors and a mesh screen instead of leaving the hearth open. Unlike the Touchstone Sideline 50-inch (80004) it needs an existing opening rather than a stud wall, and it has none of the app or voice control the Touchstone Sideline Elite 50-inch (80036) offers.

Touchstone Sideline 50-inch (80004)

Runs the same coil heater and the same room rating as the Touchstone Sideline Elite 50-inch (80036) for considerably less money, giving up the Elite's slimmer frame, driftwood media and wider colour menu. Unlike the PuraFlame Klaus 33-inch Electric Fireplace Insert and the PuraFlame Western 33-inch Electric Fireplace Insert it is designed to be framed into a stud wall rather than dropped into an existing firebox.

Specs side-by-side

SpecPuraFlame Klaus 33-inch Electric Fireplace InsertTouchstone Sideline 50-inch (80004)
TypeFirebox insert, freestanding or wall-mountRecessed or surface wall-mount
Heating Power750W / 1,500W1,500W coil heater with blower
Heat Output5,100 BTU5,000 BTU
CoverageUp to 400 sq ftUp to 400 sq ft
Flame Effect3 settings, variable intensity and brightness3 colours, 5 intensity levels, 10-colour ember bed
Sound6 crackling tracks, switchable off—
FrontDouble glass doors and mesh curtain—
ControlsFront panel and remote, heat-off flame modeWi-Fi app, Alexa, Google Home, IR remote
Dimensions35.04" W x 22.44" H x 8.78" D50 3/8" W x 21 1/2" H x 5 1/2" D
Timer—30 minutes to 7.5 hours
Weight—59 lb
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