World's Coolest Fireplace

Heat & Glo have developed what is quite possibly the coolest fireplace ever made. You plug it into a standard 220 volt outlet and give it a constant supply of water, either from a direct line or its own built-in reservoir, and this beautiful machine will give you fire.

The electricity splits the hydrogen atoms from the oxygen in the water, then ignites the hydrogen to produce the flame. Excess oxygen is released into the room, and the only by-product is water vapour -- no carbon monoxide detectors necessary.

Gizmodo blogged about this thing about a year ago, and the Heat & Glo website doesn't list any further pricing or availability information. It does say that each Aqueon is custom-made, and
prices the one in the picture at $49,900. I have to wonder if there are more expensive models out there. In any event, it's definitely drool-worthy, if priced far outside my limited means.

Link (via Gizmodo)