I grew up with a gas fireplace and I know I will never own one.
The fireplace is really pretty at my parents house.
It has a glass front plate showcasing a faux fire. There is a little ledge you can stand on and lead against for heating. The mantle is a good spot to hold pictures, Christmas decorations or just cute knick knacks. The fireplace really does make the living room look classy. I see why my parents bought it. A fireplace just isn’t really effective. The fireplace couldn’t even come close to heating a two story house. The upstairs uses an electric heater. The downstairs isn’t even completely heated by the fireplace. There is the living room and office that uses that system. The kitchen uses a ventless heater to supplement with the fireplace. The office is always freezing cold, even with the fireplace on. The living room isn’t exactly toasty warm either. I think if my parents lived down south, a fireplace would have been a good move. For northern climates that get below twenty degrees, a fireplace can’t keep up. They really should have chosen a gas furnace that uses ductwork to pump the heat room to room. A boiler system also could have been a good plan to. Either with piping within the floor or baseboard heating, every room could get heat with this as well. A fireplace just doesn’t have the reach those systems do or the power. It looks so much better, but in the north, you really need to focus on heating power.