Kitchen island · bar · the Islandfire package · Calgary
Water and light, cool to the touch. No gas, no venting, no refilling. A Dimplex Optimyst cassette plumbed and hardwired into your island, bar or peninsula, with the cabinet, the water, the power and the air designed around it.
Island end, 36-inch counter. A concept render made from Dimplex's product photos of the cassette, not a photograph: real installs will replace this as they are photographed.
How it's built
Flange on the stone, feet on sills, air from a toe-kick grille, water off the cold line under the sink, power on its own circuit. The bay under the fire is a service cupboard, not storage.
Formats
Same cassette, same package. What changes is the counter it lives in.
The fire sits in the last two feet of the island, away from the cooktop and sink, with the seating around it. Best done while the counter is being replaced, so the fabricator makes the cutout in the shop.
Suits kitchen renovations, peninsulas, new builds.
Bar height puts the flame at eye level for anyone sitting. The raised ledge behind it doubles as the draft screen Dimplex asks for, and the water comes off the bar sink. A low glass panel goes on the walkway side.
Suits basement bars, condo wet bars, home theatres.
Two 20-inch cassettes side by side for a longer run of fire on a big island, or several in a row along a hospitality bar, plumbed on one manifold and wired in parallel, exactly as the manual describes.
Suits large kitchens, restaurant bars, hotel lounges.
The package
Four trades touch this: a fabricator, a cabinet shop, a plumber and an electrician. We coordinate them so you deal with one person and one number.
Before you decide
The things we would want to know before spending this on a kitchen.
You lift the media plate and wipe the tray and the small metal disc that makes the mist, with soap and water. A few minutes. Softened water makes it lighter, and it is the one habit that keeps the flame full.
So there is a softening cartridge under the counter. You swap it a few times a year, like a fridge filter. Without it, scale builds up and the flame thins.
About 230 watts, a few cents an hour, and all of it goes into light and mist. If you want warmth, that is a different unit: see the media wall or existing fireplace pages.
The foot or so around the fire is a slightly damp zone. Quartz, porcelain or sealed granite only, and it is not a food-prep zone.
The fire takes a 24-inch bay at the island end. The top ten inches of it are the unit; below that is a service cupboard with a door for the shutoff and the controller, kept clear for the unit's air path. Treat it like the space under a sink, not a pot drawer. The rest of the island keeps its drawers.
No upper cabinet, no shelf, at least 16 inches of clear air. It should not sit under a range hood or beside a heat register, because moving air pushes the flame around.
The plumbed package wants a cold line under the counter. An island or bar with a sink is ideal; a framed floor with a basement below is nearly as good, because the line comes up beside the wiring. On a concrete floor with no water nearby the fire still runs from Dimplex's refill container, and there is a tank version we can quote, but it stops being a never-refill appliance.
During a counter replacement or a new build it is straightforward. Cutting into a finished stone counter is possible but is quoted case by case with the fabricator on site.
See it in my space
Take it from where you usually stand. You get it back with the fire in it, plus a rough price for your format. Usually within a couple of days. No obligation and no sales calls unless you ask for one.
Your photo is used only to make your render and is not shared. Prefer email? hello@mistfire.ca
Questions
No. The cassette is a visual fire only, with no heat output. That is exactly why it can live in a counter with people leaning on it and food beside it. If you want warmth from a fire, that is a different unit and a different page.
It is plumbed to the cold-water line under the counter through a shutoff, a leak-detection valve and a pressure regulator, so there is nothing to fill. Calgary water is hard, so a small softening cartridge sits in the line; you swap it a few times a year, like a fridge filter.
One bay, about 24 inches of the island's length. The unit takes the top ten inches of it; below that is a cupboard with a door for the shutoff and controller, kept clear for the unit's air path, so it is service space rather than storage. It fits a standard 24-inch base cabinet, and the cutout needs about 12-1/4 inches of counter depth, so any island counter is deep enough.
Then it depends on the floor. Over a basement or crawlspace, the plumber runs a cold line up through the floor next to the wiring, and it is still the plumbed package. On a concrete floor with no water nearby, the unit runs from Dimplex's own 1.25-litre refill container, or from a tank-and-pump module we can quote, and you top it up rather than never think about it.
It needs a 15 A, 120 V circuit and draws under 2 A. Dimplex prefers a dedicated circuit but says it is not essential unless the breaker trips, so an existing island receptacle circuit can sometimes be used with the plug kit. Our standard is a dedicated circuit hardwired by an electrician, decided at the site visit.
Sometimes. It needs a 20-3/8 by 12-1/4 inch cutout, a cabinet below with room for the unit and an air path, and cold water within reach. Cutting a finished quartz or porcelain slab is a specialist job with some risk, so we quote those case by case. Planned during a counter replacement or a new build, it is straightforward.
Two things. Every two weeks you lift the media plate and wipe the tray and the small metal disc that makes the mist, with soap and water; it takes a few minutes. A few times a year you swap the filter cartridge. The shutoff, valve, filter and controller are all behind the cabinet door.