Best Water Vapor Fireplaces: 5 Models Compared

A water vapor fireplace makes its flame out of mist and light. Water sits in a tank, a transducer vibrates it into a fine fog, and LEDs light the fog from below. It rises and curls the way real fire does, and because nothing is burning, you can put your hand straight through it.

It is the most convincing fake flame you can buy. What sells it is depth: the flame takes up real space in the firebox instead of sitting on a screen.

Two things actually separate these models, and neither one is the flame. Every one of them looks good.

The first is how the water gets in, which is the thing product pages tend to skip. The second is who made it, and that counts for more here than in most categories. The transducer that makes the mist is a wear part on all of them. So you are buying a part you will replace one day, and a company you will have to get it from. Dimplex developed this technology and patented it, and has supported the parts the longest. GlammFire and Malm build their own enclosures around Opti-Myst technology, so the part that wears is the same part. Litedeer is newer to the category and costs less.

Every specification below comes from the manufacturer's installation manual. If you are new to the technology itself, start with the water vapor fireplace buying guide, which covers how the mist and lighting actually work.

Anastasia walks through the category on the Modern Blaze Show, including the questions people ask most before buying one.

Plumbed or refilled: decide this first

Water vapor fireplaces split into two groups, and the split does not follow price or size.

Refilled units hold water in a tank or a pull-out drawer that you top up by hand. On the models built around this, refilling is genuinely easy: the drawer slides out from the front and the unit keeps running. Run time per fill depends on the model and how high you set the flame. One unit in this guide runs twenty hours.

Plumbed units connect to a water line and run continuously without you touching them. That is the better experience by a wide margin, and on the larger linear models it is close to mandatory.

Here is why that matters. Some units are built around the water line and cannot run without one: the GlammFire Prestige requires a plumbed supply per its manual. Others give you the choice. The Litedeer Mercury runs about twenty hours on one fill, or continuously once it is plumbed in.

So if you are putting a wide linear vapor fireplace into a wall, decide on the water line while the wall is open. It is a small job at framing stage and close to impossible afterward.

Water vapor fireplace reviews: the five worth considering

These are the five we would actually put in a house, drawn from the full range of water vapor fireplaces and inserts we carry. Widths are the outside dimension, and heat figures are the manufacturer's rating at 120V unless noted.

1. Dimplex Opti-Myst Revive 25, the water vapor fireplace insert for an existing opening

If you already have a masonry firebox sitting unused, this is the least invasive way to get a vapor flame into it. It slides in, plugs in or hardwires, and refills through a pull-out drawer at the front rather than a plumbing connection. It takes the Flame Connect app as well as a handheld remote.

The log set is molded from real wood with charring cast into it, which is where a lot of the realism comes from at close range. About 4,265 BTU with the heat on, and the flame runs on its own the rest of the year.

2. Dimplex Opti-Myst Aura 30, for corners and multi-sided walls

The most flexible installation in this list. The same firebox goes in front-facing, in a left or right corner, or as a bay, so you decide the orientation at install rather than at purchase. Six flame colors that blend, an optional crackling sound, cool-touch tempered glass, and a pull-out drawer for water. It runs from the Flame Connect app, the remote, or hidden controls in the drawer.

About 4,350 BTU. Dimplex rates it for roughly 300 square feet. At the usual twenty BTU per square foot, that is the optimistic end. Plan on it warming a small room, not an open plan one.

3. Malm Zircon, a free standing water vapor fireplace as sculpture

A midcentury conical fireplace that happens to run on water vapor. It hardwires to a 120V circuit, needs no venting or chimney, and the flue pipe to the ceiling is decorative rather than functional.

It comes in five standard finishes, and Malm will do any RAL color to order. That is unusual, and it is the reason to pick this one. You buy a Zircon when the fireplace is meant to be the object in the room, not a slot in a wall. No heater, about eight hours per fill.

4. Litedeer Homes Mercury, for width in a single cassette

The widest unit here that does not need a water line. It comes in three sizes, roughly 39.5, 51 and 59 inches wide, so the largest is nearly a five-foot run in one piece. Stock sizes stop there, but larger ones can be made to order, so ask before you design around the limit. Flame height adjusts from 8 to 12 inches, which is a control none of the others give you.

It has the longest run of anything here that is not plumbed. Litedeer's manual states 20 hours per fill, or unlimited on a direct water connection. The reservoir holds between 11 and 16 liters depending on the size. Nothing else in this guide comes close on a single fill.

Plumbing it costs nothing. Direct plumbing is one of two choices on the product page, alongside manual refilling, and picking it does not change the price.

It also treats the water with UV-C, shuts off automatically when the level drops, and runs at about 45 dB. What sets it apart is getting all of it in one unit. It is the widest single cassette here, it has multicolor flame and app control like the Dimplex models, and the 40-inch size costs less than the Aura. An app on its own is not the difference: the Aura and the Revive both run from Dimplex's Flame Connect app. What the Mercury adds is a touch screen on the unit itself, and a dry contact port so a building automation system can switch it. It installs free-standing or recessed. There is no heater: this one is flame only. Note that the manual says indoor use only.

5. GlammFire Prestige, for a specified luxury build

The most architectural option here, in three widths to about 88 inches, with fifteen flame shades plus natural tones and automatic color cycling. It is beautiful, and it is the one that most needs planning.

Read this before you fall for it. The Prestige requires a plumbed water supply, a dedicated 230 to 240V 13-amp circuit and an isolation switch, all per its manual. That is European mains voltage rather than a standard North American outlet. In a North American install it is a conversation to have with your electrician and with us before you order, not after.

Which water vapor fireplaces have heaters, and do they warm a room?

Mostly no, and you should buy one knowing that.

Two of these have no heater at all. The Malm Zircon draws 230 watts, which is roughly what a couple of light bulbs use, and the Litedeer Mercury is flame only too. The three that do heat land between about 4,250 and 4,450 BTU, which is supplemental warmth for roughly 200 to 300 square feet. That is a real effect in a small room and not much of one in a large one.

If warmth matters to you at all, start with the water vapor fireplaces that have heaters rather than assuming a model has one. If you want a fireplace that genuinely warms a space, this is the wrong category and a gas fireplace is the right one. Water vapor is bought for the flame.

What owning one actually involves

This is the part that is hard to find before you buy, and it is the same across every brand here.

Two of the five are Dimplex, the company that invented this technology. Dimplex sells the rest of its Opti-Myst range, including the cassettes and the Linear, through showrooms only, so the Aura and the Revive are the two we can ship. Both are in Dimplex Opti-Myst, and the Opti-Myst buyer's guide covers them in detail. The ownership rules below are the same whichever brand you pick.

Use normal clean tap water. Every manual says the same thing. In a hard water area use a softener or filtered water, because scale is what shortens the life of the parts. Never use well water or any unmonitored supply, and do not drink the water from the reservoir.

Clean it monthly, at minimum. The top cover, reservoir, refill container and transducer get washed with soap and water, and the air filters rinse and dry. More often if your water is hard. Plastic parts do not go in the dishwasher.

The transducer is a wear part, not a permanent one. It is the component that turns water into mist, and it collects calcium. Dimplex has you soak it in a half vinegar, half water solution for twenty minutes to clear the build-up. When cleaning stops restoring the mist, the transducer is replaced rather than repaired. The Aura ships with spares, and Dimplex sells the part separately (9601210100RP) for the rest of the Optimyst range. Nobody advertises this and everybody who owns one eventually meets it.

If you want to see the transducer and the heater doing their jobs, this episode takes an Opti-Myst cassette apart and shows what each part is for.

Going away for more than two weeks? Drain it. Empty every component that holds water and dry them. Standing water in a stored unit is what causes problems later.

One reassurance on that last point. Dimplex builds antimicrobial protection through the water path on Optimyst models, tested to ISO 22196. It is rated to inhibit bacterial growth by up to 99.99%. The water sitting in the reservoir is not the health concern people assume it is.

Who should skip one

Buy something else if you need real heat. Or if you want a wide linear unit and cannot run a water line to it. Or if nobody in the house wants to clean it. These need a little attention and they suffer without it. There is no shame in preferring an electric fireplace that asks nothing of you at all.

Everyone else: this is the closest thing to a real fire that does not burn anything, and standing next to one is what sells it. For what people actually do with them, from bar backs to room dividers, see these creative installation ideas.

Not sure which of these suits your wall? Talk to our team and we will work through the install with you.