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Water vapour fireplace buying guide

Updated: October 2026

You are looking at a UK living room with no usable flue, and the amazon.co.uk results all say water vapour. Five listings are freestanding Dimplex Optimyst stoves with a separate 1 kW or 2 kW heater. Seven are atomised inserts, mostly unbranded, sold by a width. A water vapour fireplace buying guide has to separate those jobs before a star rating looks decisive. The twelve rows, priced on 15 October 2026, are on the [water vapour fireplace comparison](/hub/fireplaces-and-stoves/water-vapour-fireplace). Products Compared read the listings, Dimplex’s Optimyst notes, and the UK care sheet. Nothing was lab-tested. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

You are looking at a UK living room with no usable flue, and the amazon.co.uk results all say water vapour. Five listings are freestanding Dimplex Optimyst stoves with a separate 1 kW or 2 kW heater.

Our top picks

Dimplex Dimplex Gosford Optimyst

Best overall

Dimplex Dimplex Gosford Optimyst
8.1/10about £639
View offer
Dimplex Dimplex Bayport Optimyst

Best value

Dimplex Dimplex Bayport Optimyst
7.9/10about £419
View offer
Generic Water-vapour insert 120 cm

Alternative

Generic Water-vapour insert 120 cm
1.2/10about £377.24
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Two products share the name
  2. 2.Heat is a separate switch
  3. 3.Size and the hearth
  4. 4.Water and the review pile

Two products share the name

An Optimyst stove stands on a hearth and plugs in. The Gosford listing also allows a built-in fit. The flame is a fine water mist, and the heater is a separate switch. In this set that shape is the Gosford at £639, the Fortrose at £576, the Willowbrook at £454, the Evandale at £445, and the Bayport at £419. Each names a bottle said to last up to 8 hours. An insert is a mist panel you recess, hang, or set on a table. B0G5GY4NWZ, at 120 cm and £377.24, says the steam fireplace does not heat. B0GH7BK73V, at 500 mm, says the same and says it must be wired. A 50 cm title is a different object from the Bayport’s 28 × 44 × 58 cm body. The Evandale was £445 on amazon.co.uk the same day it was £500 at Argos and £530 at Currys.

Heat is a separate switch

The five Dimplex listings state 1,000 W and 2,000 W, and the mist can run with the fan off. That is the mode when the radiators already hold the room. A 2 kW hour is 2 kWh, times your unit rate. No pence figure is fixed here, because tariffs differ. The power field is a second number. Fortrose prints 130 W, Evandale 90 W, and Bayport 80 W, beside a 2 kW heater claim. Dimplex’s care sheet says about 200 W for Optimyst flame-only as a class. That sheet is not a meter reading of those fields. Two inserts state that they do not heat, and several cheaper listings never state a wattage. Listed coverage, where it exists, is the maker’s figure: Bayport 25 m², Fortrose and Willowbrook 20 m². Gosford and Evandale leave it blank.
Dimplex Dimplex Gosford Optimyst

Testsieger

Dimplex Dimplex Gosford Optimyst
8.1/10about £639
View offer

Size and the hearth

The Bayport and the Evandale are both 28 × 44 × 58 cm and 11.6 kg. The Willowbrook matches that height and width, is 36 cm deep, and weighs 11.5 kg. The Fortrose needs a wider hearth: 39 × 62 × 66 cm and 20.8 kg. The Gosford is 30 × 48 × 62 cm and 17 kg, and its listing says freestanding or built-in. Inserts often give only a width. B0HG557ZPB says 50 × 24 × 16 cm in the title and 14.5 × 38.5 × 2 cm in the table. Both lines were on the listing, so a hole cut from the title can miss the table. The EZBHIZ listing, B0HDCVSQ4S at £167.99, puts Wood in the material field. A false flue pipe is decoration.

Water and the review pile

Dimplex’s UK care sheet says filtered water, not de-ionised water, about 8 to 10 hours a fill, and a clean about every two weeks. A shop FAQ on the same brand also mentions de-ionised water. Follow the care sheet, then the manual in the box. The bullet “up to 8 hours” is a ceiling. Stored reviews are often shorter, and hard water leaves scale on the transducer until the mist stops. Gosford is 4.4 from 590. Bayport is 4.0 from 120. Willowbrook is 3.9 from 59, Fortrose 4.5 from 52, and Evandale 3.8 from 24. Five inserts have no review line. Two show 5.0 from one review, and one of those is a refund after a wrong-size return. A count of one does not outrank 4.0 from 120.

Common questions

Do I need the 2 kW heater or only the flame?
You need the heater only if this appliance is meant to warm the room. The five Dimplex listings let the mist run with the fan off. Two inserts state that they do not heat, and several others never state a wattage. Flame-only is the smaller load, though the mist-only draw is not printed as a meter reading on every model.
Will a 50 cm insert fit a stove opening?
A 50 cm title is a width claim, not a match for the Bayport or Evandale at 28 × 44 × 58 cm. The Fortrose is 62 cm wide and 66 cm high. Measure the opening, including depth, before you order. Where the title and the dimension table disagree, as on B0HG557ZPB, ask the seller which figures will ship.
What water do I keep buying?
For a Dimplex Optimyst stove, the UK care sheet says filtered water and tells you not to use de-ionised water. Plan on a top-up inside a long evening, because owner reports are often shorter than “up to 8 hours”. Insert lines about filtered water or an automatic inlet are a separate claim, with almost no reviews in this set.
Why do some listings have hundreds of reviews and others none?
The Gosford has been listed long enough to collect 590 reviews. The generic inserts here have no customer-review line, or a single rating. An empty review field is not a hidden high score. You are buying from the title, the bullets, and the photograph.
Should I trust a single five-star review on a £222 insert?
A count of one cannot carry the comparison. The flatpincololee review, on B0FYFSJ9MT at £221.99, mentions easy placement and a slight hum. The other 5.0, on B0GH7BK73V, is about a refund for the wrong size. Read the sentence before you recess or wire a panel on the strength of that star.

Related pages

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Sources

Public UK sources and the Dimplex care sheet, read with the amazon.co.uk listings on 15 October 2026.

  1. Dimplex Optimyst collection (retrieved 15 October 2026)
  2. Dimplex Fortrose Optimyst electric stove (retrieved 15 October 2026)
  3. Dimplex Optimyst maintenance guide (retrieved 15 October 2026)
  4. Approved Document J: combustion appliances and fuel storage (retrieved 15 October 2026)
  5. Smoke control area rules (retrieved 15 October 2026)
  6. Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 2016, regulation 35 (retrieved 15 October 2026)
  7. Approved Document P: electrical safety in dwellings (retrieved 15 October 2026)
  8. Electrical Safety First: portable heaters (retrieved 15 October 2026)