Valor HE6

Quick Facts

• Heating Capacity: 0–500 sq ft
• Viewing Area: 35" W x 28" H.
• Fuel: Electric.
• Controls: Programmable remote with thermostat; free app; optional wall switch.
• Fan: Included

Who It's For

Some rooms are made for a fire, but a gas line or a chimney was never in the cards—or the fireplace that's there has sat cold for years. You need a fire that looks real without the venting, the fuel, or the upkeep. If you're renovating, building new, or replacing a fireplace you never use, the Valor HE6 is built for exactly that. Settle for a basic electric box instead and you'll live with flames that read as a screen; this one is designed to be the focal point of the room.

What Makes It Special

The flames play against a black LCD panel that gives the fire depth—glowing, ember-lit logs in front, flames moving behind them, the way a real firebox layers light. Valor's high-definition log set, exclusive to North America, is crafted to look like wood that's actually burning, not a prop.

Then you tune it to the evening. Choose from 16 flame colors and styles—including sparks and a smoke effect—plus nine ember-glow settings, overhead lighting in yellow or white, and a crackle sound if you want to hear the fire as well as see it. All of it runs from the remote, the free app, or an optional wall switch.

The built-in heater runs at 1,400 watts on a standard circuit, or doubles to 2,800 watts when hard-wired—and you can schedule it to warm the room at certain times of the day or week, so it's holding your temperature before you sit down.

Possible Downsides

• It warms one room, not the house—figure roughly 500 square feet of genuine comfort.
• The 2,800-watt setting must be hard-wired to a 240-volt circuit; on a regular outlet you get 1,400 watts.
• Two log styles only—glowing birch or glowing traditional; there are no glass or coal media options.

If you want a fire that looks real in a room where gas or wood was never an option, the HE6 is the right decision. The room it's in becomes the room the house lives in.

The HE6 takes your choice of Glowing Birch or Glowing Traditional logs and your choice of front—a clean install kit, the three-sided Clearview in vintage iron, or the four-sided Edgemont in pewter—plus an optional wall switch and mood lighting LED strips.