Touchstone Sideline 28-Inch Recessed Electric Fireplace (#80028)

A 28-Inch Electric Fireplace for an RV, Cabin or Bedroom

The Touchstone Sideline 28 is an electric fireplace that goes into the wall like a built-in. There is no chimney, no gas line and nothing to vent, and because the flame runs with or without heat it looks right in July as well as in January. It is the smallest fireplace in the Sideline line, which is why it ends up in campers, tiny homes, cabins and bedrooms.

Three Flame Colors Over Ten Ember Colors

The flame runs orange, blue, or orange and blue together, at five levels of brightness. Underneath it, the ember bed has ten color settings of its own and an auto-cycle that drifts between them. The fireplace remembers the last flame color you used. Crystal embers and a log set both come in the box, so you can choose which one sits under the flame rather than buying it separately.

Two Heat Settings, and the Flame Runs Without Either

The heater has a low and a high setting and a timer that runs from 30 minutes to 8 hours. The flame effect is independent of it: run the fire cold through the summer and switch the heater on when the evenings turn. Heat comes out of the front of the unit rather than the top, which is what lets a television sit close above it.

Frame the Opening at 23 1/4 inches wide

Touchstone specifies a rough opening 23 1/4 inches wide, 15 3/4 high and 5 1/4 deep. The fireplace itself is 28 inches wide, 16 1/2 inches tall and 5 1/2 deep, so it clears a 2x6 wall with room to spare. Touchstone allows a television 8 inches above the top of the fireplace, which is closer than most electric fireplaces permit and is the figure to design the wall around.

Small Enough for an RV, a Cabin or a Bedroom

Touchstone calls the 28 "perfect for smaller spaces and RVs", and it is the only Sideline size that genuinely is. At 28 inches wide and 16 1/2 inches tall, it stands five inches shorter than every other size in the line, which is what lets it fit the low wall in a camper, a cabin or a tiny home where a 21 1/2-inch frame will not go. It weighs 22 lbs, the lightest Sideline made, and Touchstone's own gallery includes a customer's installation inside an RV.

The thing to plan around: the 28 is the only Sideline that cannot be hardwired. It has to reach a standard outlet. In a small space that is usually an advantage rather than a limit, but it decides where the fireplace can go.

Plan the Outlet, and Have a Second Pair of Hands

It plugs into an ordinary outlet. Unlike the larger Sidelines, Touchstone does not permit this one to be hardwired, so plan the outlet before the wall closes. The fireplace weighs 22 lbs and arrives at 25 lbs boxed. Run it on its own 120-volt 15-amp circuit and keep other appliances off that circuit, which is what the manual asks for. Never use an extension cord or a power strip with an electric fireplace.