I had my old gas fireplace torn out. It was a 70's era tin box that sucked more hot air out of the room than it generated and sucked cold air in. I'm saving up for one of those super-efficient wood stoves that heats all day on a few wood scraps. It will be very similar to your illustration and I'm looking forward to it. I vote for waste burning in a super-efficient wood stove over either gas furnace or gas fire.

We're in the process of shopping for a new home in Seattle, and nearly all the properties we've toured have at least one fireplace -- it was just standard design in the era of homes we're considering. Even most of the newer construction homes have fireplaces, though they're usually higher-efficiency gas models.

I think it's perfectly fine to burn it every once in a while (just like even the greenest of greenies will occasionally much on a leaf of non-organic spinach or quench their thirst with a sip of BPA-infused bottled water -- nobody's perfect). We don't intend to make a habit of using the fireplace, but for special occasions like a party or holiday gathering, it's a lovely rustic touch.

You have to consider the efficiency of the unit to determine if it's beneficial. I've lived in a house with both a wood stove and a fireplace and the wood stove heated the room far better than the fireplace.

You also have to consider the region you live in. Some areas do not have easy access to seasoned wood and some areas are, well, forests.

I love the stove I have in my home and it does an amazing job of heating the house. But I also use my paper trash as fire starter and use firewood from a family-friend's acreage. Nothing beats it.

(you can also easily install a pellet stove that runs off of pellets made from wood waste)

In some parts of California it is illegal to use a wood burning fireplace. Pretty much everyone I know who has one has had it converted to gas burning. Not as romantic as wood burning, but better than nothing.

When I look at houses to buy I will only consider those with a fireplace....wood burning.

Due to an inefficient design, I ended up converting our wood fireplace to gas. While I don't use it often (natural gas is SO expensive these days), there is nothing like a small open flame to take the chill out of a room.

We moved to a small 900 sq foot home in a semi rural area. We heat with a small EPA approved glass front woodstove that we installed, and we love it. It's a lot of work, but we're able to harvest the fallen limbs and some of the fallen trees in our area, so it's very inexpensive compared to natural gas, oil, or electricity. There's really no such thing as clean heat, unless it's solar or wind generated I think. I don't feel overly guilty about it.

I think fireplaces are aesthetically pleasing, but terribly inefficient.

The best part about fireplaces, imo, is the hearth and mantel. We don't have a fireplace (or a need for one in our temperate climate) but I've seen some really awesome fake mantels and love them.