Valor LEX2 50-inch Electric Fireplace Engine

Quick Facts

• Heating Capacity: 0–500 sq ft
• Viewing Area: 49" wide and 15¾" tall.
• Fuel: Electric.
• Heater: 1400 watts on a standard plug, or 2800 watts if hardwired.
• Controls: Thermostatic remote included; smartphone app optional.
• Fan: Included

Who It's For

There's a room in the house that would be better with a fire in it—a bedroom, a den, the wall between the kitchen and the living room—but there's no chimney, no gas line, and no plan to add either. Most electric fires give themselves away from across the room. You need an electric fire that looks like it was built there on purpose. If you want a real-looking fire anywhere there's an outlet, with enough heat to warm the room on a cold evening, the Valor LEX2-S is the one. A typical electric unit gives you the glow; this one gives you the fire.

What Makes It Special

Start with the logs, because that's where electric fires usually fall apart. The LEX2-S takes Valor's high-definition Birch, Driftwood, or Splitwood sets—or the Real Wood Artisan log set: actual North American wood, individually charred and hand hewn, with no two sets alike, delivered pre-assembled. From the couch, it reads as a wood fire that happens to be behind glass.

It also changes shape to fit the room. Out of the box it configures as a front-facing, corner, or three-sided fire, so it can sit flush in a wall, wrap the end of a room, or stand between two spaces and give both a view of the flames—one fireplace making two rooms out of one.

The thermostatic remote or smartphone app runs the rest. Set 70 and the heater holds the room there on its own, on a timer you can program daily or for the week. There are 13 fire-bed colors, five brightness levels, three flame colors, and two crackling-fire sounds to tune the fire to the evening, and the non-reflective glass means you see the fire, not your lamp reflected in it.

Possible Downsides

• It's a one-room warmer—comfort heat for the space it's in, not a substitute for the furnace.
• The log set is chosen separately; the glass is included, but you pick one of the four log styles to complete the fire.
• LED mood lighting is an optional add-on, not included.

If you want a fire that reads as real in a room that has no chimney and no gas line, the LEX2-S is the right decision. The room it's in becomes the room the house lives in.

Choose the look with Valor Birch, Driftwood, or Splitwood logs or the Real Wood Artisan log set, set it up front-facing, corner, or three-sided, and add optional LED mood lighting strips to carry the effect beyond the glass.