electric flame effect wall mounted fires

aka I'm thinking of getting one of these for our conservatory, so will be really interested in your opinion.

First test over. Will do another when it cools down enough. We half filled it and it burned for 30 minutes. It has taken the 'edge' off the cold but there's a light smell, not unpleasant sort of like a gas heater.

Sorry not got back on this. Decided I needed a room thermometer to do the test correctly. Went out to buy one, bumped into old friend, got chatting, we decided to grab a coffee in local hostelry, by which time it was the school run. So will conduct a scientifically sound test tomorrow morning Ceesnan

Looking forward to that Aka. I've had a look at their website and really like the look of the tabletop ones.

OK test carried out under the following conditions

Thermostat last night set at 17oC. No altered this morning as wanted to test in as scientific way as possible.
Room temperature at start of test 16oC. Room size 6m x 5m. One largish window, west facing, one set of patio door to conservatory (12oC in there)
One door to hall left slightly ajar.

Unit used 'Blaze' medium
Filled with ethane gel 180ml (approx £1 worth)

Gel burned for 63 minutes.
Room temperature rose 3oC in that time to 19oC
Room felt distinctly warmer than adjoining room and hall in entering.

Comments
Smell of gas similar to a portable gas heater. This faded after the flame went out and I put the lid on the pot.
Pot not hot to touch on sides but didn't risk touching top.
Portable can be used outside for BBQs etc.

My conclusion:
We only need this as an occasional top up in winter rather than use the electric flame effect wall fire.
This will do the job and will look good in the alcove we intend to build into the chimney breast, when not in use (which will be most of the time)
Not cheap if you intended to use it on a regular basis.

Re your conservatory Ceesnan I tried it yesterday for 30 minutes and the outdoor temperature was 4oC, conservatory was 11oc. It did heat up a bit but it wasn't fair to expect it to do any better in that short time given the outdoor temperature.
I think I'd buy the bigger one for that purpose.

We bought a wall heater a few years ago ( it's in our bedroom) and each winter when it becomes cold and dark we put in on for the cosy fire effect
( not for it's heat may I say) although there us a little warmth if left on long enough. It's an electric fan heater which really has purpose and we love it. We have various coloured slides which can be slid into the back of the fire and they give off different colours depending on the mood. Shop around cause there are a real variety out there. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the information Aka. I've found that there are a couple of places quite local to me that stock them, so will go and have a good look at the weekend.