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This electric fire was originally used at a house in Duston in Northampton in the 1940s.

An electric fireplace is an electric heater that mimics a fireplace burning coal, wood, or natural gas. Electric fireplaces were often placed in conventional fireplaces, which could then no longer be used for conventional fires.

The electric fire was invented in 1912 but they were very expensive to install and maintain and only became more popular in the 1950s with new modern house designs. They still had the disadvantage of not looking authentic until the techniques for electrical flame effects were developed from 1981. Dimplex introduced commercial electric fireplace effects including the Optiflame in 1988.