Customer Care · Valor

Valor Remote Controls & Batteries

Which remote you have, which batteries it takes, and what to try before you call anyone.

Every Valor gas fireplace runs on batteries: one set in the remote, and another in a receiver that sits beside the firebox or inside the wall switch. It is why a Valor can still be lit in a winter storm, and it is also why a fire that suddenly will not start is so often a question of batteries rather than anything graver.

Valor suggests fresh batteries once a year. What follows is the short version, drawn from Valor’s own guides and manuals (linked at the foot of the page): how to tell which remote you have, which batteries go where, and what to check first. It is written for any Valor owner. If Maxwell Fireplace installed yours, we are glad to help with the rest.

Which remote do you have?

Valor lists four: two current, two archived. If you are not sure which is yours, your fireplace’s owner’s manual is the place to check.

Current

Valor 10

Two-way communication and buttons you can feel. It lights the fire, sets the flame, and runs thermostat and program modes, with a countdown timer, a child lock, an eco mode and a mobile app. Light and fan controls work where the fireplace has them.

Valor lists it for the L Series linear fireplaces (L1, L2, L3, LT1, LT2), the LX1 and LX2, the H3, H5 and H6, the P2, and the G2, G3.5 and G4 inserts.

Handset: 2 × AAA
Receiver: 4 × AA

Current

Valor Plus

A full-featured remote. Set and program the temperature for waking hours, set a timer to turn the fire off after bedtime, and light or put out the pilot from the chair, so no one has to kneel at the fireplace.

Valor lists it for the Horizon, the Portrait, the Madrona stove, and the G3 and RetroFire inserts.

Handset: one 9V
Receiver: 4 × AA

Archived by Valor

GV60 Max

Valor treats it alongside the Plus, with the same 9V handset. Its manual names the Valor heaters 700, 780, 785 and 1000, with or without a fan; a second version with lighting control was made for the 2200 LX2.

Keep the handset within about 15 feet (4.5 m) of the fireplace, and do not leave it on the mantel or the hearth.

Handset: one 9V
Receiver: 4 × AA

Archived by Valor

GV34

The oldest of the four, used on Valor heaters 738, 739-72 and RF24B. When its display reads BATT, the batteries need changing.

Handset: one 9V
Receiver: 4 × AA

Batteries at a glance

Alkaline throughout. Valor recommends Duracell or Energizer.

Part	Batteries	Where to find it
Receiver	4 × AA	Under or beside the firebox, near the controls. With a Remote Battery & Wall Switch (RBWSK), in the wall switch instead. A burst of rapid beeps lasting about three seconds when you light the fire means these need changing.
Valor 10 remote	2 × AAA	In the handset. The display tells you when they are low.
Valor Plus and Max remotes	one 9V	In the handset. The display shows a battery icon when it needs changing.
GV34 remote	one 9V	In the handset. The display reads BATT.

Change them once a year, or sooner if the remote or the receiver asks. Handset batteries typically last one to two cold seasons, and taking them out for the warm months helps them last. Both the remote and its receiver need batteries to work, so change both. Details for the Max and GV34 come from Valor’s manuals for those remotes.

Changing them, step by step

Start with the receiver. It is the one people forget.

The receiver in the fireplace

Every current Valor, and the older ones too.

How you will know: when you try to light the fire and the fireplace gives a burst of rapid beeps lasting about three seconds, the receiver’s batteries need changing. Valor says this of its current fireplaces, and it means the four AA batteries in the receiver, not the one in your remote.

A Valor receiver box with its separate battery holder, loaded with AA batteries, on a short cable — A Valor receiver and its battery holder.

Turn the fireplace and its pilot off, and let everything cool.
Find the battery holder under or beside the firebox, near the controls. Your owner’s manual shows the exact spot for your model.
Fit four fresh AA alkaline batteries, the way round the holder shows.
Put the holder back where it was, and refit anything you removed to reach it.

A caution from Valor’s manuals: do not pry batteries out with a screwdriver or any other metal tool. It can cause a short circuit.

A wall switch with the batteries inside (RBWSK)

If you have a Remote Battery & Wall Switch, the receiver’s batteries live beside the switch.

A Valor wall switch with its magnetic Fireplace Battery Access plate removed and the battery holder drawn out beside it — The battery holder drawn out of the wall switch, with the access plate below.

Pull off the plate marked Fireplace Battery Access, next to the wall switch. It is held on by magnets.
Do not pull the connector by its wire.
Fit four fresh AA alkaline batteries, the way round the holder shows.
Put the battery holder and the cover back.

The handset

The remote in your hand.

The back of a Valor 10 remote with the battery cover off, showing two AAA batteries — Valor 10: two AAA batteries.

The back of a Valor Plus or Max remote with the battery cover off, showing a 9V battery — Valor Plus and Max: one 9V battery.

Watch for the low-battery sign on the display: the battery icon on the Valor 10, Plus and Max, or BATT on the GV34.
Open the battery cover and fit the right batteries: two AAA alkaline for the Valor 10, one 9V alkaline for the Plus, Max and GV34.
On a Valor 10, Valor’s short video on eco mode and changing the batteries shows it being done.

One reassurance for the Max: Valor’s manual says the remote only has to be paired with its receiver once, and that pairing is not needed again when the receiver’s batteries are changed.

Photographs: Valor Fireplaces.

Before you call anyone

Why is my Valor remote not working?

Start with the handset batteries; the battery icon on the display tells you whether they are low or dead. Use Duracell or Energizer alkaline batteries, which Valor says work best with its remote systems. Then change the receiver’s batteries too, in the fireplace or in the wall switch. The remote and its receiver both need batteries.

What if my Valor fireplace will not turn on?

First check that you are using the remote or the wall switch the way its guide describes. If the pilot will not light or the fire will not come on, the cause is often the four AA batteries in the receiver rather than the ones in the handset. On a Max, Valor’s manual adds that a receiver with very low batteries shuts the fire off completely, and that after the pilot has been turned off you should wait two minutes before lighting it again. Beyond a change of batteries, Valor says further troubleshooting belongs to a qualified service technician.

Why does my fireplace beep when I try to light it?

A burst of rapid beeps, lasting about three seconds, is Valor’s signal that the batteries inside the fireplace are critically low and need changing. Those are the four AA batteries in the receiver, not the 9V in the remote. Change them and try again; your fireplace’s manual has the details for your model.

How often should I change the batteries?

Once a year, or sooner when the remote shows its battery icon or the receiver beeps. Handset batteries typically last one to two cold seasons, and removing them over the warm months helps them last. The autumn, before the first cold week, is a sensible time to do the receiver as well.

Will my Valor still work in a power outage?

Valor builds its fireplaces so that the batteries in the remote and the receiver, not the wall socket, run the ignition and the controls, which is why the fire can still be lit when the power is out. Fresh batteries are what make that true, and they are worth changing before the storm season rather than during it. A circulating fan, on the models that offer one, is a separate matter; your owner’s manual says what it needs.

My remote is lost or broken. Can it simply be replaced?

A new handset has to be matched to the receiver in the fireplace. Valor’s Max manual says the receiver must be reset if either one is replaced, and sends you to your dealer for it. If Maxwell Fireplace installed your fireplace, call us and we will sort it out with you.

Valor’s own manuals

These open on valorfireplaces.com. French versions are on Valor’s remote controls page.

Creative FireSpaces™

The fireplace is only half of it. The other half is who looks after it.

Maxwell Fireplace is North Vancouver’s Creative FireSpaces™ — and the fireplace work is ours from the first conversation to the final flame: design and placement, permitting, delivery, installation, and the care that comes after. A change of batteries is the smallest part of that care, and the one we are happiest to see done at home with a fresh set of alkalines and ten minutes.

We install and look after Valor fireplaces across Greater Vancouver, the North Shore, and the Sea to Sky Corridor — Squamish to Whistler and Pemberton. If you are still choosing, the Valor fireplaces we show are worth seeing burning in the showroom.

Still not working?

If Maxwell Fireplace installed your Valor, we will look after it: request a service appointment, or give us a call. If it was installed elsewhere, your installing dealer, or Valor’s dealer finder, is the right next call. Thank you for understanding.

Request service Call