yeah, those you can run with or without heat. the fire image is optical. in general they're a suck replacement for a real fire, but it's better than nothing. we're putting one in a high-rise unit for a client. it's ridiculous that they have a gas range but aren't allowed to put in a gas fireplace.
But Patty might get confused when he's drunk and try and piss out the fire. That could get ugly quickly.