Touchstone Sideline 100-Inch Recessed Smart Electric Fireplace (#80032)

A 100-Inch Linear Electric Fireplace With a 94-Inch Flame

The Touchstone Sideline 100 is the widest fireplace in the Sideline line, a linear electric unit that recesses flush into a 2x6 wall or hangs on the surface of one. The fire runs 94 inches across and 12 inches tall behind black glass. It needs no venting, no chimney and no gas line, it plugs into a standard outlet or can be hardwired, and the flame runs with or without the heater.

The Flame Grows With the Frame, the Heat Does Not

Every Sideline uses the same 1,500 watt heater, so the 100 puts out the same roughly 5,000 BTU as the 28-inch model and carries the same 400 square foot rating. What the extra width buys is the fire itself: 94 inches of flame against 45 on the 50-inch model.

Treat the heat as supplemental. At 100 inches this is a room's focal point first, and a space heater second.

Frame to 96 3/4 Inches, Not 100

The rough opening is 96 3/4 inches wide, 20 1/2 inches high and 5 3/4 inches deep. Frame to those numbers rather than to the fireplace, because the glass frame overlaps the wall around the opening by more than an inch on each side.

That 5 3/4 inch depth is why this needs a 2x6 wall. A 2x4 gives about 4 inches once the drywall is on, which is not enough. Touchstone also does not allow the fireplace in a load-bearing wall, and the framed enclosure should be lined with drywall rather than left against insulation or a vapor barrier.

At 100 Inches, Check How It Gets Into the Room

This ships freight rather than by parcel, and the carton is over eight feet long. Before ordering, walk the route: door widths, stair turns and any tight hallway between the curb and the wall it is going on. Two people are needed to lift it, whether it is going into an opening or onto a bracket.

Surface mounted, only the front of the unit is finished. It stands 5 1/2 inches off the wall and both sides show plain black steel, so a shallow surround or a false wall built around it gives the built-in look without framing a full opening.

Leave 8 Inches Between the Fireplace and a TV

Measured from the front of the glass to the bottom of the television, 8 inches is the minimum. The same 8 inches applies to a mantel above it or to the ceiling, and the bottom edge needs 6 inches of clearance to the floor. No clearance is required at the sides or the back.

WiFi, Voice Control, and a Remote in the Box

The Sideline 100 connects to the Touchstone Fireplace app over WiFi and answers to Amazon Alexa and Google Home, so flame color, heat and the timer can be set from a phone or by voice. The remote and the panel on the fireplace do the same things. Flame color runs orange, blue or both together, with five brightness levels, three flame speeds, and ten ember bed colors under the crystals or the log. The shut-off timer runs from 30 minutes to 8 hours.

Choosing Between the 100 and the 84

Both frame to the same 20 1/2 inch height and the same 5 3/4 inch depth, and both run the same heater, so the decision is wall width and nothing else. The 84 needs an 80 3/4 inch opening against 96 3/4 here, which is well over a foot of framing. Measure the wall first: on anything under about nine feet of clear run, the 84 leaves room to breathe on either side, and the 100 can look wedged in.

Other sizes: browse the full Touchstone Sideline series.