Most people, when asked to fantasize about their ideal living room space, will picture one of two things. Think about it right now, what comes to your mind? Unless you have highly unusual tastes, you’ve probably pictured either some combination of a big screen TV and media center loaded with all forms of media and electronic entertainment, or a luxuriously relaxing room with a fireplace.

Excitement or relaxation. These are the two most popular uses for the great American living room. But who says you have to choose one or the other? You may not know it, but there is another option. A fireplace entertainment center actually combines a media center with a fireplace, giving you the best of both worlds.

How They Work

The fireplaces in these entertainment centers are electric. They create highly realistic, three dimensional fire simulations rather than real burn-your-house-down flames, so they are proximity safe for electronics, CD’s and DVD’s, not to mention pets and children. They are not a fire hazard- but they do produce heat. Working from a standard electrical outlet, one of these electric fireplace units can output over 4700 BTUs per hour.

For a little more effort, you can wire them directly into your home wiring system and get twice that output. One of the great benefits of having an electric fireplace incorporated into your media center is that it also works as a proficient zone heater, allowing you to save on some of those energy bills. Even with all the heat these centers generate, they are never a burn hazard. The facade remains cool to the touch while silent fans distribute the heat- or not.

With electric fireplaces, you don’t have to let the outside temperature dictate your enjoyment of the relaxation and romanticism of a fireplace. At the touch of your remote you can start or douse you “fire,” and choose to run the fire with or without the heat. The word on the web is that these already hard-to-tell-its-fake fire simulations will soon be enhanced with the added realism of faux sparks and the audio snaps, crackles, and pops of burning wood.

The entertainment center and mantel designs are available in every decorating style imaginable, from fine wood to contemporary materials and color variations. You can choose you own combination of adjustable shelves and media component areas, complete with the requisite wire management channels, and decide whether you want the multi-function to be obvious, or to have cabinet doors that can conceal your electronics at the flick of a wrist.

These combo fireplace media centers don’t need to be wall mounted or fixed in place, so you can arrange- and re-arrange- them just like the piece of Eagle industries furniture. They easily fit into small rooms or apartments, so you don’t have to let lack of space limit your enjoyment options.

So next time you’re thinking about your perfect living room, remember you don’t have to be limited to an either-or choice. The Entertainment Center Spot has an extensive selection of living room furnishing solutions, including Fireplace entertainment centers, and live chat staff members waiting to help you make the living room you’ve been dreaming about into a reality. To find out more, go here entertainmentcenterspot.com .