I live in a condo too. It has a working wood burning fireplace, but I do not want to fool with wood and ashes. A couple of months ago I installed a set of Dimplex Revillusion fireplace logs and love it! It satisfies my need for something moving in the fireplace, and they look VERY good. Since it can be used with the heater off, you can use it year round too. It has LED lights projected onto a Plexiglas shield. Sometimes when there's a lot of light in the room you can see a reflection from the Plexiglas, but most of the time (especially at night) it is invisible.
For sound effects you can charge up an old cell phone and download a fireplace sound effects app. Just put it in the fireplace with the logs. Mine will play all day on a single charge. Then you can buy some candles or wax melts that smell like a campfire. You'll be surprised at the selection out there. Here's a video of my fireplace with the glass doors open and the mesh screen closed.
I live in a condo too. It has a working wood burning fireplace, but I do not want to fool with wood and ashes. A couple of months ago I installed a set of Dimplex Revillusion fireplace logs and love it! It satisfies my need for something moving in the fireplace, and they look VERY good. Since it can be used with the heater off, you can use it year round too. It has LED lights projected onto a Plexiglas shield. Sometimes when there's a lot of light in the room you can see a reflection from the Plexiglas, but most of the time (especially at night) it is invisible.
For sound effects you can charge up an old cell phone and download a fireplace sound effects app. Just put it in the fireplace with the logs. Mine will play all day on a single charge. Then you can buy some candles or wax melts that smell like a campfire. You'll be surprised at the selection out there. Here's a video of my fireplace with the glass doors open and the mesh screen closed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CR8mKa5CMLI