Aura, mid-wall
The Aura set into the face of a knee wall rather than its end, so it reads from the sofa and the kitchen. Same drawer, same two air openings.
Priced per project
Half wall · room divider · Calgary
A fire in the half wall, open on three sides.
The Optimyst Aura is one box that installs one-, two- or three-sided, with a pull-out water drawer and an optional fan heater. It sits in a knee wall or at the end of a room divider and shows the flame to the whole open plan. The e-MatriX bay does the same in a taller, glass-edged box: plumbed, flame only.
Concept render
The Aura at the end of a knee wall, open to both rooms. A concept render made from Dimplex's product photos of the unit, not a photograph of an install.
What goes in
Two boxes, three open sides.
The Aura converts one-, two- or three-sided out of the carton and refills from a drawer. The e-MatriX bay is taller, deeper, plumbed and heat-free. In a half wall the Aura is the usual answer; the bay when the plan is more architectural and the water is easy to reach.
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Optimyst Aura
Aura 28 in, three-sided
3STEP-RGB-AM- Size
- 30 × 29-3/16 × 15-15/16 in (spec sheet; the price list rounds the depth to 15-7/8)
- Needs
- one-sided: 30-3/8 × 29-1/2 × 15-15/16 in, drywall opening 28-7/8 × 23-5/8 in; three-sided: 29-1/4 × 29-9/16 × 15-15/16 in; two-sided is the combination of the two
- Water
- pull-out drawer with a refillable tank; no plumbing
- Heat
- Yes. fan-forced heater, on demand, up to 1,000 sq ft (sell sheet); heat vents at the front; flame-only mode for the rest of the year
- Air
- 29 + 16 in² fresh air (two openings), with an open path to the unit
- Power
- 120 V, 1,275 W, hardwired, 3-wire, connections at the back bottom-left
$5,299.99MSRP, CAD, June 2026 listNot yet on file: tank capacity and run time; explicit clearance to combustibles figures; two-sided framing drawing. We confirm these from the manual at the site visit.
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Optimyst e-MatriX
e-MatriX 35 in, bay
FEF3226L3- Size
- 39-1/8 × 37-5/8 × 20 in (price list)
- Needs
- the FEF3226L3 spec sheet prints 36 × 38-1/8 × 21 in, the same as the front-facing unit, but the price-list width is 39-1/8 in; verify the bay drawing before framing
- Water
- direct plumbing connection for continuous supply (standard)
- Heat
- No. Flame only
- Air
- 80 in² fresh air, with an open path to the unit
- Power
- 120 V, 270 W, hardwired to a 120 V circuit
$8,767.99MSRP, CAD, June 2026 listNot yet on file: exact framing for the bay configuration; water supply spec; weight. We confirm these from the manual at the site visit.
How it's built
How it's built.
A knee wall with the Aura at its end: the cap on the framing, the drawer on a room side, the two air openings, the circuit. All figures are Dimplex's.
Two more looks
The same idea, two other rooms.
e-MatriX bay, taller divider
The bay unit is 37-5/8 in high, so its wall is closer to 48 in: more of a divider than a knee wall, plumbed, flame only.
The job
A short wall with a lot going on inside it.
A framer, an electrician and a finisher (a plumber too for the bay). We draw it, coordinate them and set the fire.
- The drawingPlan and elevation: which sides are open, where the drawer faces, wall height and cap, where the air openings and the circuit go. Approved before framing.
- The partitionFramed to the Aura's spec table (one-sided 30-3/8 × 29-1/2 × 15-15/16 in; three-sided 29-1/4 × 29-9/16 × 15-15/16 in) or the e-MatriX's (36 × 38-1/8 × 21 in, front-facing figure; bay drawing verified first), anchored to the floor, not bearing on the unit.
- The airTwo openings for the Aura, at least 29 in² and 16 in², where the manual's drawing puts them, oversized if a grille covers them; the gap under the drawer kept clear. 80 in² for the bay.
- The powerA 120 V circuit into the partition by an electrician, hardwired at the unit's back bottom-left, permit included. GFCI where the room calls for it.
- The waterAura: nothing to plumb; the drawer faces a room and you fill it. e-MatriX bay: a 1/4 in cold line up through the floor or the wall, with a shutoff you can reach and a softening cartridge.
- The cap and finishDrywall and paint or a stone or wood face; a cap in quartz, stone or hardwood carried by the framing. Anything glued to the drawer front stays under 5 lb.
- The fireSet, wired, filled or plumbed, configured for the open sides, remote and app paired, heater tested, walkthrough of the fill and the clean.
Before you decide
What living with an Aura in a half wall is like.
- You fill it.
The tank is in the drawer on the front face; you top it up by hand with filtered or softened water. How long a fill lasts depends on the flame setting; Dimplex's Aura documents on file do not print an hours figure, so neither do we.
- The drawer side is a room side.
You need room to pull it out, so the drawer never faces the wall or a piece of furniture. That fixes which way the unit turns before the wall is framed.
- Three open sides means more draft.
A knee wall between rooms is exactly where a door or a register can push air across the flame. We look at that on the site visit; sometimes the answer is two open sides instead of three.
- The unit is not structural.
The wall carries the cap and anything on it. Nothing bears on the Aura, and the drawer front carries under 5 lb of finish, glued.
- The heat is optional and modest.
1,275 W, up to 1,000 sq ft per Dimplex's sell sheet, venting at the front. Fine for taking the chill off an open plan; not a heating system.
- It has a regular clean.
Tank, reservoir and transducer washed with soap and water at the interval in the manual, more often with hard water.
- One number to confirm on site.
Dimplex's spec sheet and product page disagree slightly on the wall cut-out height (29-1/2 vs 30-1/2 in). We frame to the spec sheet and check the carton before the wall closes.
- The bay is a bigger commitment.
The e-MatriX is 37-5/8 in high, 21 in deep and plumbed. It makes a taller divider and needs a plumber, and it gives you no heat. It also looks like nothing else.
See it in my space
Send a photo of where the wall would go.
From the side you'd see it from most, with a rough idea of the wall length. You get the picture back with the fire in it, plus a range for the partition. Usually within a couple of days.
- Take one photo of the wall, opening, counter or corner from where you usually sit. Phone is fine.
- We place the right unit for your depth, water and heat answers and send the picture back, labelled as a concept.
- You get a rough price: the unit at list price, the build as a range, and what a site visit would confirm.
Your photo is used only to make your render and is not shared. Prefer email? hello@mistfire.ca
Questions
Questions people ask about half walls.
Is it see-through?
The Aura and the e-MatriX bay open on the front and both sides, so at the end of a half wall the flame is visible from three directions. Neither is open front and back. For a fire seen from two rooms through a full-height wall, the Pro Box with its rear glass pane is the unit; that is on the media wall page.
How tall does the half wall need to be?
The Aura is 29-3/16 inches high and its opening frames about 29-1/2 inches, so with the unit a few inches off the floor and a cap on top, a 40 to 42 inch knee wall is the natural height, and the flame sits where you see it from a couch. The e-MatriX is 37-5/8 inches high, so its wall is taller, around 48 inches, more of a divider than a knee wall.
Where does the water go?
The Aura has a pull-out drawer at the bottom of its front face with a tank you fill by hand: no plumber. The drawer needs clear space in front of it, which is why the drawer side is always a room side, not the wall side. The e-MatriX bay is plumbed to a cold line and never filled.
Does it heat?
The Aura does: a fan heater on demand (1,275 W, up to 1,000 sq ft according to Dimplex's sell sheet), venting at the front, with a flame-only mode for the rest of the year. The e-MatriX bay is flame only, 270 W.
Can I put a counter or a shelf on top of the wall?
Yes, on the wall, not on the unit. Dimplex says the Aura is not load-bearing, so the partition framing carries the cap and nothing bears on the fireplace. Anything fixed to the drawer front stays under 5 lb and is glued, not screwed. Surfaces 12 inches above the unit stay under 40 degrees C when the air openings are clear.
Do I need a plumber?
Not for the Aura. You need an electrician for the 120 V circuit into the partition (1,275 W, 10.6 A, hardwired), a framer for the wall, and a finisher for the face and cap. The e-MatriX bay adds a plumber for the water line and its shutoff.