Wall mounted electric fireplaces are a type of electric fireplace designed to be installed on the wall of a home and so installation will be required to permanently mount the appliance.
To install a wall mounted electric fireplace
- Choose a location that’s near enough to an electrical outlet for the power cord to reach, and that has sufficient clearance to nearby objects in line with what the manufacturer recommends in the owner’s manual.
- Check the manual for guidance on how your model of wall mounted electric fireplace needs to be installed onto the wall. They can either typically be installed straight onto a wall or placed onto a bracket that in turn is installed on the wall. Some models may use a combination of both.
- With help, mark out the locations on the wall for the screws, either by holding the fireplace up against the wall or by using a template.
- Drill holes at the required locations using a drill bit that the owner’s manual specifies, and install the wall plugs.
- With help, secure the electric fireplace to the wall using screws at the locations of the wall plugs, or firstly install the bracket(s) onto the wall if required.
- Check that the appliance is firmly attached to the wall.
- Install any other components onto the electric fireplace and plug the appliance into the nearby electrical outlet.
We’ve recently installed a vertical wall mount electric fireplace in our bedroom, as shown below.
We’ve therefore put this complete guide together to explain how to install a wall mounted electric fireplace, discussing how we installed our own one.
The tools we used for this job were:
- Drill & correct size drill bit
- Pencil
- Level
- Screwdriver
- Stud finder
- Tape measure
This article covers how to mount an electric fireplace on a wall.
For more information on wall mounted electric fireplaces in general see our complete guide to wall mounted electric fireplaces, or check out our wall mounted electric fireplace buying guide to find the best model for you.
How To Install A Wall Mounted Electric Fireplace
1. Choosing A Location
The location of your wall mounted electric fireplace should be:
- Near enough to an electrical outlet for the fireplace to plug in without having to use any form of extension cable.
- Far enough away from nearby objects or combustible materials in line with the clearance distances outlined by the manufacturer in the owner’s manual.
For our situation, we had some space available at the side of the bedroom that we thought would be great for a wall mounted electric fireplace.
There was enough space in the corner for a vertical wall mounted electric fireplace but not a traditional linear one.
There was also enough space to the sides, below and above the fireplace to meet the clearance requirements of our particular fireplace.
The manual to our fireplace states:
‘Select a location that is not prone to moisture and is located away from combustible materials such as curtain drapes, furniture, bedding, paper, etc.’
Focal Point Fires
As the heater is at the bottom of the fireplace, we also needed to ensure it was raised up the wall far enough.
This location also had an existing electrical outlet nearby that suited the placement of an electric fireplace on this wall perfectly.
2. Check How The Fireplace Will Be Mounted
All models of wall mounted electric fireplace will have different installations, whether that’s mounting points in different locations, the number of mounting points or whether the fireplace is to be mounted directly onto the wall or onto a bracket.
The owner’s manual will outline the steps you need to follow to install your particular wall mounted electric fireplace, and by reading through you’ll have a better understanding of how it needs to be mounted before you start.
For example, the manual to our wall mounted electric fireplace explains that we need to mark out and drill 5 hole locations, for three screws at the top and two at the bottom.
It’s here where you can use a stud finder to help hone down the final location of the fireplace.
Depending on what your owner’s manual states you may be able to get away with screwing the fireplace directly into wall studs without the need for any drilling or wall plugs.
Our manual states:
‘Have at least one screw in a wall stud. If the appliance is to be mounted on the inner leaf of a conventional cavity brick wall, or a solid wall, then the wall plugs and fixing screws provided may be used.’
Focal Point Fires
3. Mark Out The Hole Locations
Before drilling the holes for the screws you’ll need to mark out the locations of where the holes will need to be in the wall.
If you’re mounting the fireplace directly to the wall then you’ll most likely need help. Our manual requests to ‘have to people hold the appliance against the wall to determine the final location’.
For other models of electric fireplace is may be necessary to firstly install a bracket onto the wall, which are commonly needed to help support the weight of the appliance. Marking out hole locations for any brackets will also be required.
Our wall mounted electric fireplace didn’t come with any brackets so with one of us holding the fireplace up against the wall in the desired location, the other ensured that it straight by using a level.
Using a pencil, we then marked out the drill locations at three locations across the top and at both locations underneath the appliance required for our fireplace.
When taking away the fireplace and/or bracket from the wall the pencil markings will indicate where you will need to drill.
4. Drill Holes & Install Wall Plugs
Depending on what your owner’s manual states and what type of wall you’re installing your electric fireplace onto, you may need to drill holes to install wall plugs in which the screws will hold the fireplace against the wall.
Our manual states:
‘Using the correct drill bit, drill the 5 holes marked on the wall and fit with the supplied wall plugs. If hole locations are on studs you do not need to drill or use wall plugs, simply apply screws directly into studs.’
Focal Point Fires
As we installed our wall mounted electric fireplace onto a solid masonry internal wall we needed to drill out the holes and install wall plugs.
We used a cordless drill to create the holes using a drill bit that matched the diameter of the wall plugs.
The plastic wall plugs then simply slotted into the holes created by the drill.
5. Secure The Fireplace To The Wall
With the holes for the screws in place, a wall mounted electric fireplace (and any brackets if required) can be ready to be installed on the wall.
With one or more persons holding up the fireplace:
- Align the fireplace with the pre-drilled holes.
- Secure the fireplace to the wall by screwing in each screw one by one, to a reasonable tightness.
- Once you’re happy with its placement, fully tighten up all the screws.
When installing our own fireplace we had one person holding the fireplace up against the wall in line with the holes and one screwing in all the screws, starting with the ones at the top.
For this we used a simple screwdriver.
6. Check The Fireplace Is Secured
Wall mounted electric fireplaces can be heavy appliances and it should always be checked how secure they are against a wall.
The manual to our fireplace explains to:
‘Check the appliance for stability ensuring it will not pull free from the wall.’
Focal Point Fires
You can achieve this by giving the electric fireplace a gentle, but firm pull towards you away from the wall. The fireplace should be stable and not move or give way.
7. Add Finishing Touches & Plug In
The manual to your wall mounted electric fireplace may request that any loose objects or trim should be removed prior to installation and added after.
For example, we needed to ensure the glass front was removed (otherwise we couldn’t access the screw locations) and that the media wasn’t installed.
With the fireplace installed we added the crystals that formed the media bed.
The glass front could then be installed as per the manufacturer’s guidelines and the fireplace plugged into the nearby electrical outlet ready to be used.
All we had left to do was turn it on using the remote and enjoy our new wall mounted electric fireplace!
Hiding The Cord On A Wall Mounted Electric Fireplace
Unless you’re installing a wall mounted electric fireplace right next to an electrical outlet there’s most likely going to be a trailing power cord around the appliance.
The power cord for our own wall mounted electric fireplace is plugged into an electrical outlet on an adjacent wall and so we’re going to hide this cord to help it look more built in.
Our fireplace came with cable cover raceways with sufficient length to cover the entire length of the power cord and so we’re going to use these to hide the cord by following the baseboard around to the electrical outlet.
These cable covers have a sticky back that we can use to install straight onto the wall.
Other ways to hide the cord on a wall mounted electric fireplace would be to:
- Paint the cable the same color as the wall.
- Run the cord under any carpet or floor.
- Install a new electrical outlet nearer to the fireplace.
- Hide the cord with furniture (if allowed by the manufacturer regarding clearance distances to nearby objects from the fireplace).
Further Reading
The Complete Guide To Wall Mounted Electric Fireplaces
Wall Mounted Electric Fireplace Buying Guide