New England home. We have bought two homes here. In both, the first improvement was to add a wood burning stove. We use it every night to heat the house. When the power went out for days, the neighbors gathered at our house to stay warm.

I wouldn't live without one. Only way to stay warm in a New England winter.

Belahn, we had one in our Tampa home. We used it with candles in it and I loved it. To each her own!!

We have a direct vent gas fireplace and use it once per week on average, but during really cold weather we usually turn it on a few times per week, mostly in the morning when the house feels cold (We don't have window treatments yet).

With an all electric house and 40 cent kilowatt hours a woodstove is our primary heat. We have had power outages lasting up to 12 days. We put a 2,500 gallon water tank high enough for gravity flow water. We heat water on the woodstove and put it in "sun shower" bags and hang them from the showerhead. And have a generator for the freezer and refrigerator.

I have 2 woodburning fireplaces, the one in the living room has never been used, the family rm gets an occasional fire maybe 5 times a year, They both look good however, unlike some of the outrageous fireplaces we see on Houzz. Wife complains we are sending warm air up the chimney every time I start a fire so that explains why the fireplaces are hardly used.

We have a wood stove we use when temperature is in lower teens or when power goes out. Yes, it's a mess when we have to run it but so grateful to have it as a backup heat source. Generally we only have to run it a few times every winter.

Living in Southern California, it's not a must-have here, and truth be told wasn't even on my list when I was home shopping. I just ended up with one and thought, "How am I going to get any use out of this?" Scrubbed the thing out, added some gas logs and checked it off the list, moving onto other projects as one does in early days.

Cut to now, and it's become my favorite feature of the house. Simple, instant atmosphere to come home to (especially when the days are short), and dynamic and elegant during a gathering. It's a great home feature, and one I had no intent to have originally - now I wouldn't want to be without it.

Our gas fireplace is on right now. We use it almost every day in the winter. Love it.

We have a gas and wood burning fireplace. It was a "must have" when we were shopping for a home 35 years ago, even though it's SoCal. It gets cold here, too, in the winter months and how can you have a Christmas without it? We use it mostly on weekend evenings from late October thru early April...unless it's over 70 degrees.

I would love to use it everyday, however I have a Great Dane that loves to lay right next to the fireplace grate and get warm. He gets so warm he gets yeast infection in his ears. So I can only use my fireplace once in a while when he is not in the room so he cannot get close to the fire. Silly boy!

ETA photo

We use ours on weekend evenings and occasionally during the week. I love a wood fire.

We installed a beautiful enameled Jotul wood burning stove five years ago when we built a library addition onto our farmhouse, but we hardly ever seemed to use the stove -- until this winter: I moved our TV and couch into the library, and now we have a fire nearly every cold evening. It's been SO cozy -- I'm terribly glad I rearranged our rooms this fall!

I live in Florida and used mine last night and today. I think I will be able to use it for the next week straight YEAH

I have two wood burning fireplaces that have electric inserts in them so in reality are electric heaters. The family room one has been on most of the day time since November. The dogs go in and out from the sliding door in that room so it tends to get cool. The electric inserts can easily be removed if we need to return to wood burning in an emergency.

We used to use ours much more in the last century, but for many years now it rarely ever gets cold enough and now we hardly have any days in the winter when there is not a No Burn/ Fireplace Use Ban due to air pollution levels in the city.

We have 4 fireplaces: living room, family room, master bedroom and one on our front portal (long, covered front porch). All are wood burning and three of them are kiva fireplaces, which are very common out here in New Mexico. We use them all, but use the family room kiva the the most frequently. Every Friday and Saturday evenings during our cooler months.

We light our front portal's kiva whenever we sit out there in the evenings. The two others we use less frequently.

Here in North Dakota we use our wood burning stove every day in the winter. Love the heat that it puts out and if the power goes out, we're still warm.

I have both a wood-burning fireplace and a gas fireplace in the house. We haven't used the wood-burning one in years because of having to constantly clean and sweep out the ashes after each use to keep it neat and looking good. My plan is to retrofit it with a gas insert so I can enjoy it more!

Wood burning fireplace. We use it about four times a week.

I never use ours. Two years ago my then five year old almost set himself on fire when we had ours going and I was in the other room. Never again until my children are grown up!

Jotul makes a great stove. In our last house we had two of them burning all winter.

I really missed our fireplace in our second house. Now we have a fireplace insert that we run when it's cold. If the power goes out for any length of time the neighbors know they can come to our house and get warm! I also cook on it. I have to have a fireplace.

Our wood stove (in East Texas) is our chief source of heat in cold months...so we use it nearly every day! It's really getting a work out this winter! And it can be used to cook on when we have a power outage.

As stated above, I enjoy the ambiance of the fireplace in my living room and am considering adding an ethanol-burning unit (free standing or wall-hung) in my media room. Has anyone had any experience with this type of fireplace?

When it is cold outside, or on cool fall evenings to set the ambiance when dining with friends.... We love it, sometimes we cozy up to it and warm our tootsies... We live in Quebec, Canada

Never. Ours is broken. If I had a gas one instead of broken wood burning, I imagine I'd use it pretty often, especially in the colder months.

Seeing everyone’s fireplaces gives me the warm fuzzies!! Especially with the pups:)

Double sided FP was requested from DH. We live on acreage with trees & he loves to split/cut wood— warm yourself twice & all.

we use it daily in cold weather. Yes, the ashes are a pain, but it’s so comforting to have a fire.

It’s gotten extra hard to pry our dog off (or out from under) the electric blanket, maybe if we figure out how to work the fireplace...?

It has been bitterly cold here for going on three weeks. Day time one is lit. Night time both are going. My furnace is set at 67 degrees and only comes on a couple times a day. I use at least one fire place every day from October through April. Nothing more soothing or joyful with a winter like we are having so far.

for those continuously using their fireplace day after day.... unless you built your house, and know exactly how perfectly the fireplace was built... you might let it cool off.... when we had our fireplace demo-ed at our last house for a larger project, when they pulled the chimney down, sheathing boards showed charring from heat leakage somewhere along the way. not on our watch, we never used it more than an evening. but the contractor said 'wow' when he exposed it, it was a house fire that was avoided by a very small amount.

Periodic fireplace inspections, "up north" where we live, are always prudent.

I am presently in my parents' home, and they have both recently passed away. The house is in San Diego, CA. They lived here for about 16 years and never used the fireplace which is in the family room, directly across the room from the open kitchen with island. Next to the fireplace is an alcove for a monster size TV (which they had, and I will now get rid of) and shelves above. The walls and carpet and the fireplace ceramic tile (which matches the kitchen floor, are all BEIGE! But the one thing that stands out, is the new flat screen TV I bought, which is presently in front of the monster set they bought. I sit in that room everyday, and I am really tired of the way that wall looks. I think the wall should be painted black, so at least the beige fireplace, with the raised hearth, would be noticeable instead of just taking up space. I have been searching online for interior design tips about what to do with a wall like this, or about getting rid of the fireplace, or hiding it and I can't find anything like that. Everything is either about a fireplace makeover or fireplace safety. By the way, I hate TVs being placed over a fireplace! You are either looking at one or the other, and usually the TV is placed too high on the wall. I like the look of little English cottage sitting rooms with cozy warm fireplaces, and chatting with close friends in that setting, but this is not England (nor Virginia, where my parents had a Franklin Stove in the finished basement that was great!). I think fire pits and fireplaces are great in San Diego, outside. And during the winter holidays, we play the free youtube videos with the fireplaces, lovely decorations and music. So, I don't think I need this fireplace; except when it's time to sell the house! Thanks for this poll!

We're in Southern CA and have been using our (gas) fireplaces often in Dec and Jan. Would NOT want a home without one.

In my area, gas prices are exorbitant. The wood burning fireplace is seldom used now that my husband has passed away.

I would just like to remind everyone to have their fireplaces inspected, not just swept but by a certified sweep/inspector.

We live in Southern California, bought and sold houses, all with fireplaces. If I remember correctly, we used the fireplace maybe twice. We like to bundle up instead of using the fireplace, and once in a while, when it gets to 30's, we turn on the heater.

We are renting right now, until our new home is finished. I really miss having a fireplace! In chilly weather, I turned it on every day. Even if the house was already warm, the fireplace just made everything feel homey. My elderly cats loved sleeping in front of the fire, so I often turned it on just for them. I have told my husband that the first thing I am going to do when we move into the new house is to turn on the fireplace, even if it is 80 degrees outside!

Our gas fireplace is the first thing that is turned on in the morning. I try to get the chill out of the downstairs before letting my Great Danes out for the morning. Then I turn the fireplace off so Ziggy does not sit right in front of the fire and cook his body.

I burn candles in mine during the cold weather. Ours is not gas and I don't want to mess with cleaning out the ashes. One large candle from IKEA lasts a week and keeps the fireplace area warm.