we're in texas too, though we're originally from new england, where a fireplace is synonymous with a warm and cozy home feeling. so i'd want one even if i lived in hawaii. :) ok, maybe not hawaii.

we have one in our living room as well as outdoors on our covered patio.

we'll definitely be able to use it in the winter in north texas though!

EDITED: both are gas fireplaces, by the way, as was our fireplace in new england.

This post was edited by maggiepie11 on Mon, May 12, 14 at 10:02

We live in a hot climate also with cold temps about 2 to 3 months out of the year. We use ours to heat the main living areas during the cold months and then run the central heat during the night while we are sleeping. I just love the cozy feeling of a fire in the fireplace.

Ooo- that sounds lovely :) I love smores.

We don't have a "real" fireplace, but we have an electric fireplace in the living room. We have it on all the time, since you can turn the heat on or off. In warmer weather it just adds ambiance.

We ended up going with a media console fireplace, since we aren't fans of wall-mounted tvs (stock photo below). It holds all our stuff and adds a little cheer to the room. I know there's a divide over "tv over fireplace" VS "fireplace as the focal point," but this works for us. At night with the tv off all you see is the fire anyway, ha ha!

There was one in our honeymoon cottage and we just fell in love.

We got one for our livingroom to heat the house since we're in a cold climate. Opted for a high-efficiency one that you could still open the doors, for that ambiance it gives off. All that said, in the end we run it a ton because we have 15 acres of forest we're constantly cleaning of deadfall...between the fireplace and the firepit, it's burning all the time ;)

We have a gas fireplace in our library/LR that is used decoratively, or on the few occasions that I'm in there reading.

We have a woodstove in the FR that is an important heat source all winter long....burned daily from Dec through March....it really makes the house cozy in many ways.

We live in a climate where it can be cold 8 months of the year. We like to have a gas fireplace in our great room and family room so we can sit around one of them a couple hours each night. Last night after a soccer game in the freezing cold, the first thing my boys did was run in the house turn on the fireplace and ask for a cup of hot chocolate. :)

Cold climate and like xc60 we can use it much of the year unfortunately but I love the warmth and the cozy feel. It's not uncommon for me to sit so close that my back will be hot to the touch after a bit. ;)

My sister has one like ladybrowncoat and it really throws out some heat, more than I expected it to.

cold climate here. I hope to be using my fireplace way more than i do in my current house. the problem in my current house is that the thermostat is in the same room as the fireplace, so when we turn on the fireplace the family room gets toasty warm, but then the rest of the house is freezing!

In the new house we placed our thermostat in a place that I hope is better. so we can use our fireplace to our hearts content to warm the great room (open area of family, kitchen, dining) and the zoned heating will still take care of the other areas of the house so we don't freeze going to bed after enjoying that fire.

In Boston MetroWest. Have a wood burning fireplace in our living room. We use it spring and fall. In winter we close it off - too much heat escaping out the chimney, even with the damper closed. In summer we use the outdoor fireplace. Funny regulations here - you need to have a permit to burn a fire outdoors unless you are cooking on it. So we always have to roast marshmallows since I never get a fire permit!

California here, we will only have an outdoor fireplace.

I'm in New England and we have a normal masonry fireplace that we use mainly on weekends for most of 4-5 months of fall/winter. The fireplace in the new house will be a wood burning high efficiency one (leaning towards Pacific Energy FC30) and likely a wood stove in the walkout basement to supplement (reduce the need for) our central heating.

It is interesting to see how you all use your fireplaces. It seems that no one wants to give up the primal comfort of the hearth, even though in many states, the woodfire is now being banned by law. What is most interesting to me are the number of people who use the fireplace for heat rather than ambiance. Our "best" fireplace was used the most, and it was a massive interior brick fireplace whose back wall formed part of the study. Down here sometimes, people crank up the ac in the fall just to use their fireplace- even though the temperature is in the 60's. Our kids break out winter coats for the bus stop too when the temps dip below 60.

We built without a fireplace. This winter was colder than normal and there were times when I would have liked having one to sit in front of, but in central NC we really don't need one. We decided to use the money for other parts of the build. And, there was none of the tv/fireplace room layout problems.

I live in Texas too (near Austin) and have a gas fireplace in my great room. I knew when we were designing the house and choosing the fireplace that we wouldn't actually USE it much but I wanted one to be the "focal point" for the seating area. (We don't watch that much TV and seriously DID NOT want a TV in the living room. We opted to move the TV upstairs into a small TV room. Because the TV is away from the main living areas, we only turn it on when we make an actual DECISION to go watch it.) Thus the living room is used for quiet reading, conversation, and for entertaining and the fireplace - even when not lit - helps make the living room seating area feel cozy and inviting!

But, truthfully, in the 4 years we've lived here, the fireplace has probably only been turned about two dozen times. On those few days/nights when the temps actually drop below (or even close to) freezing, DH and I sometimes like to make hot cocoa and sit and snuggle in front of the burning fireplace. And, at Christmastime, I usually turn it on briefly for the ambiance while we take pictures. The rest of the time, the fireplace just sits there quietly providing a NON-TV focal point to the room. For me, that makes it worth the money we spent on it!

I use it for decoration only. It's a gas direct vent fireplace.
The cats like the radiant heat from the fireplace.

We have a Heatilator Constitution woodburning fireplace and used it almost every day in the winter when temps would stay below 30-40 degrees. It will heat the 2,700 square foot main level of our home pretty well and with geothermal HVAC or bills have been great.

LOTO - I love your FP stone. Would you mind sharing the details. Sorry for getting off topic Musicgal.

JDez..The stone is Hudson Ledgestone and it is a real stone cut to 1-2'' thick. We also have it on the exterior wall of our front entry.Our cost was about $11.00 a square foot for materials only. The mantel is a solid piece of Oak that our carpenter gave me which came from a 100+ year old barn he was tearing down.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hudson Ledgestone

Very VERY nice LOTO. Thanks for the info.

We chose ambience over efficiency for our new house and went with a traditional wood burning fireplace. We realized we almost never turned on the gas fireplaces in the last two homes we built yet regularly enjoyed building log fires at our vacation home, so we went that route. I love how it turned out with its herringbone brick interior and river rock exterior. We live in a cold climate.

I also considered biofuel fireplaces since it was very important to me to have an open flame. They're pretty and tend to have more contemporary designs. I'll probably purchase one of these portable units for our veranda.

I would love to have an outdoor fireplace!

When I see these lovely screened porches, with fireplaces and outdoor kitchens...I always think it would be so nice to have something like that...but with our long, cold winters...an indoor fireplace and/or wood stove is more practical.

For the six to eight weeks of really hot weather...it would be fun to have an outdoor fireplace for evenings :)

I'm not a "building gal" like the other responders, but I use my three 125 year old fireplaces to burn wood when we have guests. It's especially nice for dinner in the winter.

This post was edited by Renovator8 on Sun, May 11, 14 at 7:36

I'm in a cold climate. We currently have a wood burning FP. Due to the effort required to light it, and having to sit with it until it burns out, we only use it a couple of times a year.

The new house will have a gas FP. I still prefer the wood, but the extra costs and permissions required for wood aren't really worth it. I'm hoping we'll use the FP more often if it's as simple as flipping a switch.

We're putting it in the dining area, off the kitchen. I'm hoping it will be reminiscent of an old cooking hearth.

It's also legal here to have wood burning fires outside. We have a fire pit now (concrete ring in the middle of the yard). The new house will eventually have an outside fireplace for roasting marshmallows in the summer.

I took this picture yesterday with my tablet which I put on a stack of dusty tile while I talked to my subs. Thus, the soft focus. Anyway, it was interesting to see that no two ways of using fireplaces were exactly alike. We will enjoy ours in the late Fall and holidays in our climate- but the mason made this a piece of art with the sunburst hearth and Texas quarried stone.

Sadly, I think that burning wood will be subject to increasingly tighter restrictions as the years progress. No doubt, it will be good for air quality as has been evidenced in some Western states already- but I personally love the smells and the feel of a good roaring woodfire. Best wishes to all.

Our kids break out winter coats for the bus stop too when the temps dip below 60.

I have been giggling about this post all week, every time I get in the car and the temp is almost 60. We're wearing shorts!

Again, no gal here, but we live in N Texas. We have a gas log fireplace and we use it very frequently in the winter. I like a cold bedroom to sleep in, so in the evening we'll close the door to any room we don't want heated and turn on the fireplace for a little while. It keeps the living room nice and toasty while keeping the bedroom nice and cold.

So, we're in a hot climate but we use ours a lot during the winter.