Simplifire Triton 3-Sided Built-in Smart Electric Fireplace

The Triton is a built-in electric firebox that ships as four fireplaces in one box. The same unit installs single-sided, as a three-sided bay, or as a two-sided corner opening left or right, and which one you get is decided at install rather than at checkout. Very few electric fireplaces let you change your mind about that after the wall is framed.

Two things set the look apart before you get to any of that. The glass is 20 inches tall, roughly double the slot most linear electric fireplaces give you, so the fire has real height rather than reading as a lit strip. And the frame is built to finish flush, so stone or tile can run right up to the edge of the opening with no visible trim.

The other thing it does that most three-sided units cannot: two or more Tritons link end to end into one continuous run of flame, so the length of the fireplace stops being limited by the largest model anyone makes.

One Firebox, Four Viewing Configurations

Three-sided bay opens the front and both ends, which is what you want on a peninsula or the end of a room divider. Two-sided corner opens the front and one end, and you pick which end during installation. Single-sided is the conventional install. Nothing is ordered differently for any of them: the glass and brackets in the box cover all four, which matters on a renovation where the wall design is still moving.

Linking Multiple Tritons Into a Single Run

The Triton Linking Kit joins two fireplaces into one uninterrupted line of fire, and additional kits add more. A run of three or more puts the units with both ends open in the middle positions, so the flame reads as continuous rather than as separate boxes in a row. Two things to plan before you commit to a linked run:

• Every appliance needs its own circuit. Linking joins the fireboxes physically and pairs their controls, but it does not combine their electrical supply. Two linked units means two circuits.
• Set every unit to the same heater voltage. The setting has to match across the whole run.

Heat Output and the 120V or 240V Decision

The Triton is hardwired, and you choose its heater voltage at installation. On a 15 amp 120V circuit it produces 5,000 BTU. On a 20 amp 240V circuit it produces 10,000 BTU, double the output from the same fireplace, and in a linked run the totals add up. That is the reason it heats a considerably larger room than most electric fireplaces, and it has to be settled before the drywall goes on.

Flame, Sound and Control

Nine flame effects and more than a hundred flame and ember bed color combinations, a wider range than most electric fireplaces offer. There are also two crackling sound effects, so the fire is audible as well as visible. Flame, color, sound and heat all adjust separately, from the included remote or from your phone.

Who the Triton Works Best For

An open-plan room where the fireplace is seen from more than one seating area, a peninsula or divider that wants flame on three faces, and any wall long enough that a single fireplace would look undersized in it. If your wall has one face and the design is already settled, a single-sided linear model will do that job for less.

Before You Frame

Check your wall depth first. The Triton is about 12.5 inches deep and needs roughly 13 inches of framing depth, which does not fit inside a 2x4 or a 2x6 wall. Plan on building out a chase, or use a wall that already has the depth. This catches people out more than any other spec on this fireplace.

The 50-inch model can be wall mounted instead of recessed, using the optional Triton Floating Mantel Kit, which carries the fireplace on the wall surface with no framing at all. That kit ships with a plug-in power cord, so a mantel-mounted 50-inch runs from a standard outlet rather than being hardwired. The larger sizes are recessed installations.

It is approved for covered outdoor rooms. UL lists the Triton for patios, decks and three-season rooms as long as it is protected from direct water, with a roof overhang of at least 12 inches and a set-back of at least half the height of the opening. Keep it out of direct sun as well: the flame is a light effect, and it looks its best where ambient light is low.

Choose your ember bed when you order. The standard options are black glass, clear crystal or decorative logs, and the quantity needed goes up with the size of the unit. Birch logs and decorative spheres are available as upgrades if you want the firebox to look less conventional.