The Valor Horizon — A Long, Calm View of Fire
Some fireplaces are chosen for their cleverness and some for their composure. The Valor Horizon is the second kind: a wide, quiet window of fire, twenty-six and a half inches across and nearly fifteen high, 391 square inches of viewing area in all, set in a firebox that asks very little of the wall around it. It is the fireplace for the room that wants a proper hearth rather than a gimmick.
What makes the fire is Valor’s V-Class burner, which Valor builds to give a more dynamic flame, laid over a bed of birch, driftwood or traditional logs and set against a fluted black or red brick liner. Like every radiant Valor it heats the way sunlight does, directly and with no fan, and its ignition runs on batteries, so it keeps warming the room when the power is out.
The face is yours to choose. There are five fronts: a cast iron front for the traditional room, FenderFire double doors, the clean Clearview, a matte black front for the quietest edge, and the H4 Landscape in pewter, which stretches the opening into a wide, low frame.
The Horizon is a direct-vent fireplace and is as content in a new wall as in an old opening: it goes in as an insert or as a built-in for new construction, and Valor lists it as outdoor compatible. Valor offers co-axial and co-linear venting, a sidewall terminal and a B-vent adapter, which is a long way of saying that the vent can usually find a route. HeatShift™ is available to carry the hottest air away from the top of the fireplace, so the wall above stays cooler.
We show the Horizon in the Curated collection because a wide fire only works when the front is chosen against the real wall and the vent route is settled before the framing is closed. That is the work Maxwell Fireplace does: choosing the front and the fuel bed, deciding between insert and built-in, planning the vent and the permit, and installing it ourselves — a Creative FireSpace™ from the first conversation to the final flame.
Available in natural gas (model 534VN) or propane (534VP). The front, fuel bed, liner and venting are all specified to your room — let’s look at the space together.
One fire, two rooms
The same Horizon, dressed for different walls.
A long, calm view of fire.
Questions people tend to ask
Can the Horizon go into my existing fireplace?
Often, yes. Valor lists the Horizon for installation as an insert as well as for new construction, so it can sit in an old opening or in a wall framed for it. We look at the opening, the chimney and the vent route first, and tell you what will fit.
What is the V-Class burner?
It is the burner Valor builds into the Horizon to give a more dynamic flame presentation. The practical result is a fire with more life in it; the logs themselves, birch, driftwood or traditional, are your choice.
Will it work in a power outage?
Yes. The Horizon is a radiant fireplace that does not depend on a fan, and its ignition runs on batteries, so it lights and keeps warming the room when the power is out.
Can I hang a television above it?
Valor’s HeatShift™ system carries the hottest air away from the top of the fireplace so the wall above stays cooler. Whether a television can go there depends on the framing and on Valor’s clearances, so we confirm it against your wall before anything is ordered.
Can the Horizon be used outdoors?
Valor lists the Horizon as outdoor compatible. Whether it suits a particular covered space is a site question, so we look before we promise.
More from Valor
This is one of the Valor gas fireplaces, inserts and stoves we carry and install at Maxwell Fireplace in North Vancouver. See every Valor we carry, or read on.
- The Valor L Series — three widths of low linear fire, and the taller Landscape LT1 and LT2
- The Valor LX2 — the L Series fire glazed on three sides or wrapped around a corner
- The Valor H Series — four sizes of radiant fire, from the compact H3 to the large-format H6
- The Valor H3 — the slim retrofit for the condominium
- Valor Portrait & P2 — tall, narrow and built for almost any wall, in two generations
- The Valor G3, G3.5 & G4 — the gas insert for the masonry fireplace you already have
- The Valor Madrona — the cast iron gas stove in the Scandinavian manner
- The Valor President — the classic cast iron gas stove, thirteen inches deep
Planning a Valor for your own home? See how we install them on the North Shore and in Whistler.
A fireplace is only half of it. The other half is who places it.
Maxwell Fireplace is North Vancouver’s Creative FireSpaces™ — and we stay involved in every part of the job. The fireplace itself is ours from the first conversation to the final flame: design and placement, permitting, delivery, installation, and the care that comes after. When the work runs to a surround, a mantel, tile or millwork, we plan it with the trades doing it — yours, or ones we bring in — so the fire and the wall are drawn as one thing rather than two. One point of contact, and nothing lost in the gap between trades.
It’s exactly why a Valor Horizon belongs with us. A wide fire needs its front chosen against the real wall and its vent route settled before the framing is closed — and that is the difference between an appliance and a centrepiece. We serve homeowners and contractors across Greater Vancouver, the North Shore, and the Sea to Sky Corridor — Squamish to Whistler and Pemberton — and we’d love to show you what’s possible for your room.