Dynasty Tempo 52 to 100-Inch Built-in Smart Electric Fireplace

A Realistic Built-in Electric Fireplace in Four Widths

The Dynasty Tempo is a built-in linear electric fireplace with virtual flame technology, flush mounted into a framed wall opening and made in 52, 63, 76 and 100-inch widths. It is one of the most realistic electric fireplaces at anything near its price: nine flame styles sit over a separately controlled ember bed, a speaker adds the crackle of a real fire, and the whole thing runs from your phone or a voice assistant. It needs no flue and no venting, and the flame works with or without the heater, so it runs in July as readily as in January.

Nine Flame Styles, and the Ember Bed Sets Separately

The flame cycles through nine preset styles at three levels of brightness. The fuel bed and glowing logs are on their own control with nine settings of their own, so what glows under the flame does not have to match the flame above it. A dynamic ember mode animates the bed rather than holding it steady. A downlight washes the front in yellow or white, again at three brightness levels, and the crackling speaker has three volumes. Everything runs from the remote, the Dynasty app, or a voice assistant.

5,000 BTU Warms About 400 Square Feet

The heater draws 1,500 watts on high and 750 on low, which Dynasty rates at 5,000 BTU and roughly 400 square feet. That is supplemental heat for the room it sits in rather than a replacement for the furnace, and it blows out of the front of the unit instead of the top. The thermostat holds anywhere from 60 to 82°F, and the timer shuts the heater off after anything from half an hour to nine hours.

The Framed Opening Needs a Full 6 Inches of Depth

Dynasty calls for an opening 19 1/4 inches high and 6 inches deep, with the width set by the model: 49 inches for the 52, 59 3/4 for the 63, 73 1/4 for the 76 and 97 3/8 for the 100. Six inches is deeper than a 2x6 wall gives you, since a 2x6 stud measures 5 1/2 inches, so the wall needs building out or framing deeper before the opening is cut. Settle that with whoever is framing, because it is expensive to discover once the drywall is up.

Best for a Media Wall With the TV Above

The Tempo suits the wall a room is built around: a fireplace running under a mounted television, or a long horizontal opening in a room with nowhere to put a flue. Because the heat leaves the front rather than the top, and Dynasty specifies no clearance at all above, beside or behind the unit, a television or a shelf can sit close over it. It is an indoor fireplace for dry rooms, so keep it away from bathrooms, pools and anywhere it can get damp.

Plan the Outlet and the 36-Inch Front Clearance

Two things are worth deciding before the wall closes. The first is power: the Tempo ships with a 72-inch cord and a standard plug, and Dynasty's manual says to run it on a 120-volt 15-amp circuit and to keep other appliances off that circuit. An electrician can also remove the cord and hardwire it through the knock-out box on the back right, which is the tidier answer on a finished media wall. The second is the front: everything else can touch the unit, but Dynasty asks for 36 inches of clear space in front of it, which decides where a coffee table or a rug can go.

The fireplace arrives with its log set, ceramic fiber and three bags of fire glass, so nothing else is needed to run it on day one.

Finish the Wall With a Mantel

A shelf above the opening softens a long linear fireplace on a plain wall. Browse all fireplace mantels.