Valor G3.5 (Premium V-Class Burner)

Quick Facts

• Heating Capacity: 650–1,300 sq ft
• Efficiency: 70% (EnerGuide)
• Viewing Area: 23⅝" wide
• Fuel: Natural gas or propane.
• Controls: Thermostatic remote included; set a temperature, a timer, or a daily program from the couch.
• Fan: Optional

Who It's For

An open wood fireplace pulls the air your furnace already paid to heat and sends it up the chimney, so the room with the fire can end up colder than if you'd never lit one. You need an insert that turns that opening into a heater. If your masonry fireplace runs on the smaller side and you want warmth you can feel the moment you walk in—with no blower droning in the background—this is your size. A fan-driven insert only moves heat while its fan is running; the Valor G3.5 radiates heat on its own, power or no power.

What Makes It Special

The G3.5 heats you, not the air around you. Its ceramic logs and ceramic glass soak up the fire's heat and radiate it into the room the way the sun warms your face, so the floor, the couch, and the people on it get warm first. That's why Valor builds it without a required fan: the heat moves on its own, and the room stays quiet.

Here's the quiet advantage: the G3.5 runs on four AA batteries as its primary power source, not as a backup. When the electricity goes out, the fireplace keeps making heat with the power down—no outlet, no scrambling.

The thermostatic remote comes standard. Set 70 and the fireplace holds the room at the temperature you set, adjusting the flame on its own—and you can program schedules, set a shutoff timer, or turn the pilot off for the summer without getting up.

Possible Downsides

• The circulating fan is an optional add-on, not included. The G3.5 is designed to heat well without one, but if you want air pushed across a big room, plan for the kit.
• The fire window is smaller than its companion, the G4. If you want the larger fire and your fireplace can take it, look at the G4.
• All three fuel beds are logs—birch, driftwood, or traditional. There is no glass or contemporary media option.

If you want the drafty fireplace you have now to become real, quiet heat, the G3.5 is the right decision. The room you used to walk past becomes the one everyone ends up in.

The G3.5 takes your pick of fronts—Edgemont, Craftsman, and floating styles in black, vintage iron, bronze, pewter, or champagne brass—plus four firebox liners and three log sets, so it can match the room you already have.