Yes, wood heat IS awsome! Here in VT oil is $2.85 per gallon now, and firewood is $150 a cord. I have almost 5 cords outside. I'll use a little more than 3 of them to heat my home this winter.
You're always going to find those that dislike wood heat for a variety of reasons. But it works FOR ME. And that's all I care about.
Wood is a renewable resource. Trees do indeed grow back. And we in VT have the most woodstoves per capita and we have the cleanest air in New England.
And those oil burners work GREAT in a power failure.

I agree with using wood but a fireplace does very little for heating a home. Most of the heat goes up the chimney. Masonary wood heater is the way to go.Everything burns so there is little ash and very little creosote. They can be 80-90% efficent. its very old world technology but they are being refined and used more in the us.The M W stove gives off heat for 10-12 hours without refueling.
Also if you dont have access to wood on your property and have to buy it, Does it really pay?

Here is a link that might be useful: contraflow masonry heater

Also if you dont have access to wood on your property and have to buy it, Does it really pay?
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YES! Let's run some numbers. Oil at $2.85 per gallon. Usually about 3 tanks per year. 900 gallons. $2,500 in oil. Now wood at $150 per cord. 3 Cords used. $450 to heat my home. DUH.

I use my masonry fireplace w/insert to suppliment my all-electric home in Baltimore. Just installed a new 14 SEER, 9 HSPF, heat pump to combat a 65% rise in Maryland electric rates. I reduced my electricity consumption by 42% comparing August '07 with August '06. I use the most electricity in the winter (2100 kw/month historically) so I'll see what my winter reduction is. Have almost 2 cords of wood on hand (cut mostly by me) and will be buying another cord soon.

Yes, I wanted a Masonry heater too, until I find out the costs in engineering & foundation for my home would cost 5k on top of the 17k for the stove. Thanks but I am enjoying my Heartsone Heritage Soapstone fireplace & having 18k left over !!!

Another point about cost of wood. We have a KozyHeat, just had our first fires this weekend. It has a blower so it is not just warm in front of fireplace. On one evening we would burn about 10 logs or more while watching a movie. We used about 3-4 the other night. So that $200 give or take for a cord of wood will go twice as far this year. We have gas heat. I reduced my bill 60% two years ago by turning it down to 63 at night, only having heater on when we are getting dressed and about 2hrs when we come home from work. Weekends we only ran it if we had to. My bill went from about 200 down to about 60. Amazing. Last year I felt generous and turned it up to 64. My little one does not cough at night when it is cooler and we use comforters and wear socks. It was a great experiment to see what our comfort level really was. This year with the new efficient fireplace we may not need to run it during day because we can use the extra wood instead.
We spent just about 3000 but with regular fireplaces being redered unusable in 2010 here, we will still be able to use ours. This adds immediate resale value to our home. Plus it is better for the environment. Money well spent to me.

so how do you all get that wonderfull heat thru your home without having hot and cold spots, and without cutting vents in your ceiling to the second floor that lets sound permiate as much as the heat?

Doorway fans. They move the air very nicely and are small so nobody notices them.

My woodstove is in my basement. I leave the basement door open so the heat travels up to the first floor. A kitchen ceiling fan with the blade spin changed pushes the warm air around. Two more ceiling fans on the second floor bring the heat all the way up.