Electric stove fires offer all the warmth, charm and cosiness of wood fires along with some great benefits. These stylish and efficient appliances create a focal point for your living room without any of the hassle of installation and fuss of operation that other fuels demand. Here's your guide to getting the best electric stove for your needs.

If you appreciate convenience, you'll love electric stove fires as they're freestanding and don't require installation. Suitable for use as standalone units or within a surround, just plug them into an available electrical socket and they're ready to go. You can move your stove around easily within your home and take it with you if you move. Unlike a bulky space heater, an electric stove fire will look beautiful wherever you put it in your house. Perfect if you're living in rented or temporary accommodation.

Another huge plus is that you don't need a chimney. So if you live in a home that can't have a chimney installed, an electric fire is your best choice. An example here would be if you lived in an apartment or if you lived in a rented house where you weren't allowed to make structural changes to the building. However, you might like to add a dummy flue for appearances and get all the ambiance of a roaring wood fire without any of the fuss or mess. What's even better is that not having a chimney results in efficiency as heat is not lost up the flue.

Another big plus is the ease and convenience of use and maintenance. If you want a warm cosy house without the fuss and bother of having to add fuel, empty ashes and frequently monitor your fire, an electric stove is for you.

Operating your electric stove fire is a snap. You control everything by accessing buttons on a control panel which you can conceal for appearances. Just set your thermostatic controls to give your chosen temperature. Or you could use an infrared touch sensitive remote control pad to allow you to adjust the temperature and other settings from the comfort of your sofa or easy chair.

And on autumn nights you can set your electric fire to just give a flame effect without producing any heat. Perfect for creating a cosy ambiance and focal point when the nights are drawing in but it's not yet time to turn on the heating.

Other than convenience, electric stove fires bring a delightful sense of style to your home. Modern electric stoves are produced using traditional materials such as cast iron and with classic or modern styles but use CAD to maximize form and efficiency.

Owing to the heaviness of cast iron, these stoves heat up slowly and give off heat of an even temperature. They are the most controllable. Steel stoves heat up quickly which is great if you want to warm up a room fast. Plus steel is more elastic that casts iron which makes it more durable and damage resistant. A nice option is to get one made from stainless steel with cast iron effect.

Most stoves contain hand-painted logs and an imitation heat bed to create the feeling of having a real fire. You can adjust this log flame motion effect to your liking.

When it comes to buying an electric stove fire, you should consider the size and heating output necessary to heat your room. Most fires feature outputs of 1-2 kilowatts. As a rough guide, multiply the room's length (in metres) by the width and the height. If you then divide this figure by 14, you will get the kW required to comfortably heat your room. (Add 1kW to the total for every single glazed window and take away 1kW for every radiator in the room).

You shouldn't buy a stove with an output too high for your size of room as you'd have to run your heater at a low output resulting in lowered efficiency.

Next you'll need to consider the style of stove you want. It has to be appropriate for your existing decor. Most electric stoves are black which means they can fit into any colour scheme.

The best way to get an overall view of the wide range of electric stove fires available is to visit the web sites of online dealers and browse their illustrated catalogues. You can choose the style you like and get full details including prices and delivery times. Most dealers offer free delivery to a UK address for orders over a certain amount.