Ortal: Front Facing FR 44HH Gas Fireplace

The Full-Height Flame

Nearly two and a half feet of flame, built into the wall.

Who it’s for

Most linear gas fires are wide but short—a ribbon of flame you admire from the couch and lose from across the room. You need a fire tall enough to hold the room from every seat, sitting or standing. If you’re building or remodeling a wall where the fireplace is the point of the room, the Ortal Front Facing FR 44HH is the one; choose a standard-height unit instead and you get a strip of fire where a centerpiece should be.

Quick facts

• Viewing area: 43 5/16″ wide × 29 1/2″ tall
• Fuel: natural gas or propane (propane conversion available)
• Controls: handheld remote with built-in thermostat; wall switch and app control available

What makes it special

The Front Facing line comes in three glass heights, and the HH is the tallest of them: a fire nearly two and a half feet tall across three and a half feet of glass. That height changes how the room works—you see the flame standing at the kitchen island, not just seated in front of it, and the fire reads as part of the architecture instead of a window into it.

The design is frameless, so your tile or stone runs right to the edge of the fire—no metal border, no grille work—and the wall above stays cool enough to hang a TV or artwork directly over the flame. It builds into a framed wall, so finish work is part of every install.

The remote has a built-in thermostat: set the temperature and the fire holds the room there on its own, cycling up and down as needed. Eco and program modes are there for the household that wants to schedule it.

Possible downsides

• The black reflective interior is an option, not included as standard.
• Every media choice is a log set; there is no glass or stone media for this model.
• Lighting and double-glass configurations run on household power and won’t operate during a power failure.

If you want the fire to be the first thing people notice when they walk in, the FR 44HH is the right decision. The wall you built it into becomes the room everyone ends up in.

Your choice of log set is included—standard, weathered driftwood, refractory clay, or the short and long English logs—with bonfire, campfire, aspen, and charred-branch sets as upgrades, single accent branches in black, grey, or white, a black reflective interior, propane conversion, and a heat barrier in your choice of micro mesh screen or double glass.