Valor Portrait Insert

Quick Facts

• Heating Capacity: 500–1,050 sq ft
• Efficiency: 64% on natural gas, 66% on propane (EnerGuide).
• Viewing Area: 16¾" wide
• Fuel: Natural gas or propane.
• Controls: Valor Plus remote included; the fireplace runs on batteries, so it keeps working through a power outage.
• Fan: Optional

Who It's For

An open fireplace burns air your furnace already paid to heat and sends it up the chimney, and the damper keeps leaking after the fire dies. You need an insert sized for the fireplace you already have—one that seals the opening and turns it into a heater. If yours is an older or smaller fireplace, and you want warmth that doesn't depend on the power grid, the Valor Portrait Insert is the one to look at. A standard fan-driven insert will keep you warm too, but you'll hear the blower the whole time, and it moves far less heat when the power is out.

What Makes It Special

The Portrait doesn't need a fan to do its job. The firebox and Valor's secondary heat exchanger circulate warm air through natural convection, quietly, while the logs and glass radiate heat the way the sun warms your face. And because the insert runs on batteries rather than house power, it keeps making heat through a power outage without you lifting a finger.

It's also compact on purpose. The slim, sloped firebox is built to fit the tight, awkward chimney cavities of older fireplaces that rule most inserts out. Turn it down to a glow for a mild evening or run it up for a cold snap, all from the remote in your hand.

Possible Downsides

• The circulating fan is optional, not included. The insert heats by radiance and natural convection without it; add the fan if you want warm air pushed farther.
• This is a compact fire. If you want a taller flame and a larger viewing area, look at the Valor P2.
• App control is not available with the included remote. WiFi control is a feature of the P2's Valor 10 remote.

If you want the fireplace you already have to work like a real heater, the Portrait Insert is the right decision. The room with the fire becomes the room the house lives in.

The Portrait takes five insert fronts—the Windsor Arch in black or chrome, the President, the Senator, the Clearview in vintage iron, and the Ledgeview in black or pewter—plus birch, driftwood, traditional log, or coal fire beds and fluted black, red brick, or reflective glass liners, so the fire can match the room it's joining.