We are installing a peninsula Ortal- called a Space Creator 120. We actually went to the showroom in San Francisco on Mendell Street to see it on the showroom floor. It is a beautiful unit. If you are looking for heat and a fireplace that works during a power outage you will want the version that has the fine mesh screen around it. (Either brand- the double glass units divert most of the heat to an opening near the ceiling for release into the room so the wall above stays cool enough for art or tv install above, but they need power to run the fans that keep the glass and wall cool) The mesh is so fine you can’t even see it on the one sided units. Standing in front of the unit you can definitely feel a good amount of heat coming off of it. 70% of the heat is radiated out into the room and the other 30% is released back into the room near the ceiling. That makes it possible to mount a TV only 12” above it. (check your TV manufacturers guidelines of course) One thing that you may not know is that you can put any Fire Media in the Ortal or the Flare that has been rated for use in a Sealed Direct Vent Unit. This gives you a lot of options to customize your interior layout. It is expensive, I’m not sure what the Flare costs, but the venting configuration of the Flare didn’t work in our tight space. I hope this helps. I would recommend that you go to a showroom and see them up close and personal. When you are spending Upwards of $10,000 on a fireplace, you want to be truly happy with what you buy. Good Luck

Thanks very much. My architect had encouraged me to go to the showroom as well and it was very helpful. I really appreciate your response.

Hi sdinubile. May I ask which you went with for the bedroom? I need to replace 3 fireplaces in a project i'm working on - the great room, primary suite and bonus room. I'm pretty sure I'm going with a Mendota 72" in the GR but it's the other 2 rooms i'm struggling with. I can't seem to find any answers on which units are appropriate for the bedroom & bonus. Either they are too much heat or no heat. I would like to have some radiant heat gradually heating up my bedroom and bonus rooms (as it get's chilly here in the winter) but not so much that it cooks you out of the room in 2 minutes. Not sure what the solution is for this as again, I'm only finding units with too much heat or no heat as my options. Show room people here seem to be of no help. They just push the units they sell. Not what is actually needed for my purpose. I just saw the Flare yesterday and thought his might work but I'm not so sure as I'm seeing mixed reviews on it. I would love to know what you used in your bedroom. Thanks for any help.