It's burning fuel for heat. It won't be much more efficient than your existing system, and won't add heat in rooms beyond where the fireplace is. It's pretty but as a source of heat, not huge. My impression of them is that they are more for looks than performance. The money you would spend on installing a gas fireplace, spend that on tightening up your home instead. It'll probably be more effective and unlike the money you spend on a fireplace, money spent on improving airtightness and home insulation is money that you slowly get back, forever, in the form of smaller utility bills. More on reddit.com

Mendota and Enviro are probably the best for quality materials, user friendly controls and great support for their products. They are a bit pricey compared to Heat n Glo. Rather than looking for a brand. Maybe look for a reputable dealer in the area and ask for their opinion. But Mendota and Enviro are great options nonetheless. More on reddit.com

Replace the wood with gas, you will never look back. We did just that this last summer, and could not be happier. We went through 2 wood inserts in 38 years, the 2nd one being EPA approved and smokier as heck in the house. I had to continually wash the smoke from the walls. Plus, my husband was constantly chopping and stacking wood. Well, no more! In the morning we just turn it on, and it is soooo clean. The window is huge, something I never got from my wood inserts, so the ambience is incredible. I wish we had done this years ago. Also, you might want to check stores like Coastal (if you have one) as they don't hound you about installation and such. You buy it, pick it up, install it, and it's all yours, if you are so inclined. More on reddit.com

Average cost we sell gas inserts for is around 7k. Includes insert, install, venting and sales tax. Doesn’t include cost to run power. More on reddit.com