Get Ready for Change

I recently watched a news interview conducted over Zoom. The speaker was seated in her living room with a fireplace behind her. The fire was not burning. It did not need to be. The setting was chosen for its familiar ambience.

Then I realized this small detail existed in an established home. The odds of seeing a fuel-burning fireplace in a newer home are declining. Nationally, it is reasonable to say that new single-family homes are being built with fuel-burning fireplaces less than half the time. In some regions, the percentage has declined even further.

In their place, we are increasingly seeing permanently installed electric “fireplaces” that produce visual effects reminiscent of a fire along with modest supplemental heat. No fuel, no venting, no combustion air, and no draft.

In many new installations, even the hearth has disappeared. The protective masonry base that once guarded combustible flooring is often absent, replaced by a wall-mounted unit elevated above the floor. The visual effect may remain. The flame and the function that once defined it may not. The name fireplace persists. The function has changed.

The 2026 revision to the ASHI Standard of Practice includes permanently installed electric fireplaces within Section 13, “Fireplaces and Fuel-Burning Appliances.” That inclusion raises an interesting question: Is the electric fireplace truly part of that system named after Section 13 of the SOP, or does it share only a semantic relationship with it?

A fuel-burning fireplace is a combustion system. It interacts with combustion air requirements, exhaust venting, clearances to combustibles, and static pressure variables within the thermal envelope. The inspection carries safety implications tied directly to those interactions.

An electric fireplace does not participate in any of those dynamics. Its operation is electrical. Its hazards are the same as nearly all other electrical components. Its inspection typically consists of activating normal operating controls and observing performance. So where does it belong?

Two reasonable alternatives present themselves. One could reason that an electric fireplace naturally fits within the electrical system. It is a permanently installed electric heating device. In that respect, it is not unlike a bathroom exhaust fan equipped with an infrared heat lamp. Most inspectors would categorize that unit as part of the electrical system, not as a combustion appliance.

Another possibility is to treat the electric fireplace as a permanently installed appliance, similar to built-in kitchen appliances. It is fixed in place. It performs a defined function. It operates through normal controls. It does not integrate with other mechanical systems.

Perhaps it should derive its identity from the new section 9 HVAC section of the SOP. We would then include it within the HVAC system because it shares a similar heating function. Or perhaps its simplest classification is as an electrical appliance. The point is not to declare a final answer.

We must remember that the definition of a system from the SOP is “a combination of interacting or interdependent components, assembled to carry out one or more functions.” This definition becomes central to the discussion. This will ultimately influence how we teach systems, which subject matter expertise will teach it, and how we structure the continuing education curriculum.

If the SOP groups electric fireplaces with combustion appliances, instruction will likely fall to fireplace or chimney industry specialists whose expertise centers on draft, venting, and combustion safety. If electric fireplaces are treated as electrical heating devices, the natural instructor becomes the electrical subject matter expert. The technical emphasis shifts accordingly. Classification and definition of systems shape curriculum. Curriculum shapes inspection culture.

As electrification accelerates and fuel-burning appliances appear in fewer new homes, inspectors will encounter more devices that carry familiar names but operate on entirely different principles. If we are going to get ready for change, we must be willing to examine not only what we inspect, but how we organize our thinking about systems.

ASHI Inspector John Hansen, LEED AP,  is the owner of Hansen Home Inspections in St. Charles, Illinois. He began inspecting homes in 2016 after receiving his Illinois Home Inspectors license. He has managed the construction of new homes and condominiums throughout the Chicago area for more than 45 years, including nearly 1,000 new homes. His career has included experience as manager of operational planning, director of contracts and purchasing, and director of construction. He became accredited as a LEED AP in 2009 and is an Illinois Weatherization Assessor.