Touchstone Forte Electric Fireplaces

The Forte Is a Size, Not a Style

Forte is what Touchstone calls its compact format, and the name describes proportions rather than a look. Every Forte is 40 inches wide and about 26 inches tall, which is close to the shape of a traditional masonry fireplace opening. A Sideline from the same brand runs 60 inches wide and around 20 tall and reads as a long horizontal band instead. That difference is the whole reason to choose one: the Forte suits a room where you want a fireplace to look like a fireplace, and it fits walls that a linear unit would overwhelm.

The Styles Touchstone Builds It In

The standard Forte has a black glass front. The Forte Steel swaps that glass for a steel mesh screen, which cuts the reflections a glass front throws back in a bright room and reads closer to an open fire. The Forte Elite adds WiFi, so the flame and the heater answer to the Touchstone app, Alexa and Google Home. The Forte Infinity Pro opens two more faces for a three-sided view. And the freestanding version arrives already fitted into a white mantel, so it needs no wall work at all.

Recessed Models Need a 2x6 Wall, or No Wall at All

The recessed Fortes are about 5 5/8 inches deep. A 2x4 stud wall gives you only 3.5 inches of cavity, so these frame into a 2x6 wall, or into a framed enclosure built out for them. The three-sided Infinity Pro is deeper again at 9 1/4 inches and needs the wall built out for it. If framing is not an option, every recessed model here also hangs on a surface bracket, and the freestanding mantel version simply stands against a finished wall.

The Heater Is Supplemental, and the Flame Runs Without It

These run 1,500 watts on high with a lower setting beneath it, which Touchstone rates for roughly 400 square feet. Treat that as taking the chill off a room on a cool evening rather than as its heat source through a winter. The heater switches off independently of the flame, so the fire works year round. Every model ships with a remote and with both a driftwood log set and crystal embers, so you can change the look of the fire bed, and all carry a one-year manufacturer warranty.

Where to Look Next

Touchstone Fireplaces is the full brand, and Touchstone Sideline Electric Fireplaces covers the wider linear models if the Forte is too compact for your wall. Touchstone 3-Sided Electric Fireplaces puts the Infinity Pro next to its larger siblings. Beyond the brand, Small Electric Fireplaces shows what else fits a compact wall, and Fireplace Mantels carries surrounds if you would rather build your own.