If you want to get some heat, I'd replace the fireplace with a modern wood stove.

Unless you have the installation manual for the fireplace, I wouldn't try to enclose the fireplace. Unless that is something authorize by the original manufacturer as a way to install the fireplace it could easily create a fire hazard.

A new wood stove sitting on that nice brickwork could be very attractive and throw off a lot of heat. It would also be a very good backup source of heat should the furnace not work.

A gas stove might be another option.

Hi Seattlepioneer. I wondered if it would be an issue to frame it in. The FP was there when my parents bought the house in 1967, it was built in 1960. I'll let my Mom know to see if she would like to go that route. Thanks again.

If this fireplace has gas, can the hood be updated to a more modern style, venting smaller, sleeker? Not black but a new light look and maybe glass instead of the logs? Who does one call for such advise to be sure any change is safe and to code? With the gas in, is a stove required? Or something like this?

You know, it really looks nice as it is, at least it looks nice to me. The only problem is a fireplace generally is a big negative to your heating bill. You would think a wood stove could be put in place of the fireplace without a large extra expense. The only thing that I think is more inviting than a nice fireplace, like you have there, is a beautiful wood stove (or something that looks like a wood stove. If you do not want to go to all the trouble of wood heating, and it is a bunch of work, then gas is a great option. A direct vent gas stove is really hard to beat for heating a house. We have heated our house with an Enviro gas stove for 4 years. Three weeks ago we added a Harman Accentra pellet stove on our lower level to help out. The carefree heating with a direct vent gas stove is a good way to go when you get to a point in your life you want zero effort in these kind of things. That being said, we are loving the Accentra. We are in the process of removing the prefab fireplace in the room where the Accentra was installed. The Accentra is a corner install and the area where the fireplace was, will have our TV and surround equipment. We are about a week from finishing the project.

Why so few replys?

Hi Bodica. Your ideas for an update are really awesome. Definitely, what "I" would have in mind. My Mom is 72 and hesitant for change, so the really modern update may be a hard sell. LOL I think my issue is that the vent is SO big and protrudes so much in the room. Basically, one wall is unusable except for sitting on the elevated side benches.

Pkitfox, you said, " direct vent gas stove is really hard to beat for heating a house." I'll have to look into that a little more. The gas stoves just seem like they may be swallowed with all the brick work. Mom keeps going back and forth on whether she would be willing for the side hearths to be removed or not. I'll probably still be talking about this fireplace for another year. It took her 2 years to decide on carpet one time. ;-)