fireplace preference (furnace, windows, smell, living room)

[kcam213]

What type of fireplace do you prefer and why?

[Dave1215]

Wood: Love the smell and love working with the wood and love the fire with the sounds... too boring to filp a switch and see the silent flame.

[Ultrarunner]

I will go with an efficient Wood Burning Fire... wood is free for the taking after a storm and it is easy to store several years worth.

The only thing I have against gas it the bill at the end of the month.

[grannynancy]

How about NONE? Of course that does not seem to be an option anymore when you buy a home. I would rather have the wall space for a TV or extra windows where the fireplace would be.

[golfgal]

For general effect--wood anytime
ease of use--gas

We use our gas fireplace a lot, especially in the morning in the fall and winter. We can run it for 1/2 hour, take the chill out of the family room/kitchen area where we are mostly in the morning and keep the furnace set lower longer. It saves gas doing it this way for us.

[kcam213]

I wondered if this was a strategy that I could use to try to lower cost, use the gas fireplace to warm the areas that we are using and turn the furnace down to other areas of the house.

[sskkc]

Although wood has that wonderful smell and crackling sound, it burns my eyes, dries my skin, it's dirtier and more dangerous.

[brently54]

I voted gas because it is clean and easy to use.

[teatime]

Neither. I have a Gel Fuel fireplace and LOVE it! Real fire, crackling sounds, no mess whatsoever. Gives off a fair bit of heat, too, to take the chill off my living room!

[andthentherewere3]

Wood. Anything else is just too "fake". I wouldn't buy a house unless it had a wood burning fireplace. We are fortunate to have two.