With a linear fireplace, over the fireplace TV is possible due to the long and low profile of the linear.

However, it's hard to determine your style here - so I can't tell if something that modern will look out of place. Having a low linear element shouldn't happen by itself, it needs to be part of a cohesive plan that incorporates other linear elements (offset hearth that is also long and low? etc)

This is a VERY LARGE feature in your room - you need to get it right. And to get it right you either need a design professional or a lot more visual help for us here. (floor plan, inspirations on the look you are going for, actual construction, etc)

Save wood burning for your outside fire pit and install gas. Like others, been there, done that, and it's a lot of work. Hate the TV over a fireplace; I have heard TV over FP negates warranty.

If anyone in the house has breathing issues i.e.; asthma, even slight issues like exercise induced asthma you should consider this. Problems may be exacerbated by the smoke.

we had a wood burning fp in our first house with a clean out in the rear directly to the outside. Pia to build fire so we rarely did. Breathing issues with kids. Termites in our wood pile...now that was fun.

My parents had a wood burning FP. At first, cutting and stacking wood was kind of fun; later they bought wood and had it stacked, but it still needed to be hauled into the room, and stored near the FP. Luckily their garage was large enough to store a winter's worth of firewood inside, but of course the wood pile was mouse heaven.

One issue not mentioned yet is cleaning the flue regularly, to avoid chimney fires. If your home has a steeply pitched roof, or the roof is difficult to access, this could be an expensive bit of maintenance.

Another maintenance issue is that even with the best venting, smoke from a wood fire is going to enter the room. My Mom painted the ceiling in her family room every other year.

Finally, a wood fire is a commitment. You aren't going to start a wood fire if you are only going to be in the room for 30 minutes, but you can certainly switch on the gas FP for a few minutes at a time.

Hire an architect if all you are getting is rubber stamped bad ideas from your drafter. It will save you money in the long run. Planning a 100K rumford fireplace and 100K worth of windows in one room without knowledge of location specific regulations that control that is probably not the best idea.

We put the Astria Montecito Estate in our main room and use it to heat the entire first floor (3000 sf) during the winter. We absolutely love it. We do have an exterior door close (to the left just out of view in the pic) a built in wood box next to it, and a central vac pan near by for the mess wood makes. The TV wasn't installed yet in the pic, but it's wall mounted above the woodbox. From floor to ceiling here the stone is about 11'6" and 7' wide.

For an up-close view - since my pic above was taken in the summer time

It all depends on how committed you are to the ambiance of a wood fire. Wehave 2 wood burning fireplaces and would never convert them to gas. One has a huge stone wood box beside the opening, and we only need to fill it once a season. Mess is minimal. However, we have wooded acreage and an unlimited supply of free wood.

Well, my first impression of the pictures you provided, is that the fireplace is Snowwhite and the rather large cabinets beside them are two of the dwarfs.

You didn't ask for that, but maybe it helps? For if you decide wood, it might not be such a bad idea to actually go for a fireplace in scale with the house and the furniture.

My opinion regarding wood or gas is: I absolutely love the real wood. But it is indeed a ton of work. So if you don't mind the work and actually like the smell of it (like I do), than go for the wood one. Especially if it is lit just once a week. If however your schedule is full and you might have difficulty finding the time for all the extra work, then go for gas. Or be forever frustrated.

We will be putting in a wood burning fireplace, meets EPA standards. DH, loves wood, despite its pia aspect (at least to me) Further, there is plenty of wood up here in Ottawa and this area gets really frigid in winter. We are looking into the Napoleon N6000. This company makes both wood and gas

http://napoleonfireplaces.com/products/high-country-6000-wood-fireplace/

I think that if you replicated the look of the second inspiration photo you provided it would look nice. See how they added additional elements of horizontal items? A mantle, a hearth, and horizontal brick bands between the stone.

I'd totally go gas. flip a switch, light a fire. Still works in a power outage without issues of walking outside to get more wood / staying awake to "throw on another log". Ambience without work. No chimney cleaning. Safer, healthier, less work. And not having to leave the flue open after the fire is "off" or trailing. I've found woodburning fireplaces to make the room cold at the "end".

We installed a wood burning Elite Fireplace Xtrordinair from Travis Industries in 1999. Built a new home 2 years ago and had the same fireplace installed. It's engineered as a wood furnace, draws air from the outside, heats it and sends the warmed air into the house. It has a tight sealing large glass door so you can see the fire but you don't lose heat when not in use.

http://www.fireplacex.com/ProductGuide/ProductDetail.aspx?modelsku=98500104

I'd totally go gas. flip a switch, light a fire. Still works in a power outage [...].

Does it work like a gas range, where you manually light it with a match (assuming the switch you flip on the fireplace is electrically powered like the ignite switch on a range is)?

We were just without power and I flipped the switch and poof! my fireplace started right up!

Ditto what Jannicone said. We have a direct vent gas FP and one click of the button on the remote gives us a fire. Even works without power as the igniter has a battery backup. No, it doesn't have the wood FP ambiance but I absolutely love the ease of it.

Are fireplaces no longer built - only inserts? I have had both wood (fireplace built - no insert) and gas. Gas is definitely easier, but sometimes I do miss a wood fire.

Some thing like these?

I am surprised by the number of people that despise carrying in wood. It is really not that much work or that big of a deal. To me, gas fireplaces are cheesy and I would rather have no fireplace at all than a gas fireplace.

"Work" and "big deal" - very subjective. Physical limitations may apply, geographical limitations (ie, no wood available, or high cost) and time limitations - as stated previously, burning wood requires dedication. To each their own, especially if they're informed of the pros and cons.

we found the downside of a wood fireplace was lack of attention span in our family... by the time a fire is going, we want to wander off and do something else. we ended up putting an arrangement of candles in the fire box and calling it a day.

We have a wood burning insert fireplace inside and full masonry fireplace outside. Both have a gas start but are wood burning. It's the best of both worlds...easy to get going but real wood crackling and burning. They make wonderful log carriers (Filson is who we have) that you can carry wood in to the home with little mess. Usually it's just a trip or two for a day long fire going. We also live on acreage and have unlimited access to wood and built a storage area just outside the indoor fireplace (near the outdoor fireplace), which adds to the convenience.

This is the wood burning insert we used indoors, that has a stone surround as well as some of our woodwork. The TV is to the side and not above though. http://astria.us.com/products/georgian

@Anglophilia “Are fireplaces no longer built - only inserts? “ the insert type of fireplace such as the Napoleon n6000 are energy efficient, actually heat the house and meet strict EPA standards. The typical/traditional “open” fireplaces, though awesome, are mainly for aesthetics.

I am not a fan of gas fireplaces. I prefer the appearance, sound and smell of a real fire.

We have a large wood burning fireplace in our family room that we use frequently during winter and another in our living room that we use occasionally or if we have company. We get a cord of wood (oak & birch) delivered each year and stacked. Bringing it in with a canvas carrier is not a problem. Given our sedate lifestyle and high rates of overweight and obesity in the U.S. a bit of activity carrying wood in is a good thing.

Our new house will have 3 wood burning fireplaces with gas starters. We'd originally planned for all 3 to be full masonry but have switched to Isokern which is in the middle between masonry and an insert.

Wow! If this topic is any indication, wood might be making a comeback. We installed 3 wood burners in our new home (Astria Georgian, Quadrafire 7100 (EPA stove), and a H&G Villawood on the back porch. We've not even moved in yet and have already used two of them. We're just wood burning people - it's in our blood.

And yes, the gas starters are great. The stove of course can't have one, but the other two do - they're really handy to simplify things.

Another vote for the Montecito Estate or something similar. That is what we are putting in. It is a High Efficency wood fireplace so you dont' lose all the heat up the chimney. The Napolean was our other choice.

And yes wood may seem romantic, but in reality it is messy, buggy, takes up a lot of space and hard work. Be honest with yourself if this is what you really want.

Flipping a switch on a gas fireplace can be just as romantic without the mess, you have to know your habits, how much time you want to spend on the fire and if you have a source of wood or have to buy it.

We installed a wood stove. We are in a log cabin though. We wanted something that was efficient and could heat the main floor in case we had power outages. We really don't care for gas. We had gas in our old house and didn't use it much. We've used our stove several times now and love it. We have lots of wood that still needs to be cut up from when our lot was cleared. Once it's a little warmer and we have some time we will cut it up.

Look at my thread here: https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5092336/how-do-you-get-7-x-5-slabs-of-granite-to-the-second-floor?n=1

That's the shorter of the two granite surrounded Renaissance Linear 50 fireplaces we're in the middle of installing right now.

These things throw out a lot of heat (I saw one in the show room). The firebox is sealed (the glass and firescreens slide up on counterweights into the wall). You'll see the vents for the heat recovery systems on the side of that installation (the taller one downstairs has two linear vents above and below).

Here's the taller downstairs unit.

absolutely gas fireplace. We have two, one in the living room and one in the master bedroom. The gas fireplaces are a great supplement to our heat bills during the cold weather. No mess and no issues with anyone with respiratory issues.

For wood, check out Superior Fireplaces. They have open, closed, and high efficiency fireplaces. So whatever you decide, you can stick with the same manufacturer.

For gas, I would suggest something grand like the 864 clean-face from Travis, it features a wide fire viewing area that may make it feel a little more like a traditional fireplace.

Here in the Evergreen State, someone sneezes and the power goes out. Our gas fireplace keeps the entire first floor warm; in bitter cold weather, we've slept in front of it on an air mattress with the fire going all night.

Thank you everyone for your comments. We still have not decided fully on gas vs wood. We know really really want wood but the big thing holding us back on the wood is the size of the fireplace and the visual size of the fire you get with wood. Nearly all wood fireplaces are very small, compact units and we were hoping to see a nice beautiful fire since we have such a large space.

Maria P, I do agree with the statement of Snow White and the two dwarfs for the cabinets. Does anyone have a better idea of what to do around a large stone fireplace. I really hated the bookshelves in my last home. Only photos I see are of bookshelves or bench seats. Ideas for around a 7x18 stone fireplace would be welcomed. Also, my new inspiration is the attached photo - would these metal in the middle going up 18" feet create too much vertical attention to my fireplace surround?

West Hills 32 · More Info

I'm a bit confused by your post. One of the complaints about gas fireplaces is that they tend to disappear — the flames are not as prominent or noticeable vs wood.

The manufacturers I'm familiar with will generally limit gas to 42-48" except for custom linear but will go 72" or larger for wood. One of our Isokern wood burning is 72".

Hi nhyland, you may be confusing the size of the actual fireplace opening vs the size of the surrounding. Also, do you want the fireplace to acfually heat your room? Can the fireplace be flanked by windows, bench seats etc? Also, It doesn’t necessarily have to be flanked by anything. Depends on where it goes in the room. Here are some examples, you can substitute stone and use granite, marble etc.

Jaimeeap...hope you are checking this thread. We have the same fp. I still haven't decided how I want to finish it. May I see a pic of yours finished, please? Thanks!

I grew up in a house with a traditional wood-burning fireplace (and at times it was our only heat). I've also lived in houses with wood-burning inserts and gas fireplaces.

Wood-burning has significant drawbacks. I'd choose gas (behind sealed glass doors) every time.

Here's why:

- Cutting and stacking wood is real work, assuming you even have access to trees to cut. And you have to wait for it to "dry" -- you can't burn green wood. Sure, you can have a cord of wood delivered, but it's expensive. And you need a dry place to store the wood.

- Once you have the wood, keeping the wood box filled is another chore ... sweeping up the bitty bits of wood is another chore ... cleaning the ashes is another chore. Personally, I want fewer chores.

- A traditional wood-burning fireplace feels warm to people sitting within 8-10' of it ... but overall, it creates a negative amount of heat. That is, heat is drawn up the chimney -- google it. Inserts and stoves are more energy-efficient.

- As people above commented, a wood fire takes a good 30 minutes to "catch" and really get a good start ... whereas you can have a gas fire in 30 seconds. A wood fire requires attention.

I think the person above who asked about size of the firebox vs. size of the masonry was onto something. Consider both the size of the firebox (and, yes, an insert does limit this) and the size of the masonry surround.

Don't get me wrong -- I love my fireplace and would never build a house that didn't include one -- it would seem wrong -- but gas is so practical, whereas wood-burning is a lot of effort /money for the return it gives. And I do keep coming back to the fact that stoves are cute and so much more efficient than fireplaces.

Thanks everyone! We decided on the Renaissance Rumford 1000. It is costing us much more than we had budgeted but hopefully it will be worth it. Our home is a new build so it is not installed yet but will be sure to let you know how it looks once we are in the home.

Wood is prohibited in our town (except for grandfathered rights), so we went with gas linear, in a bit modern style and stone. Ceiling is about 16' at the fireplace wall in the side of vaulted space, vault goes up to a bit over 19. Ours is a 42" Mendota and comes larger. Width is a bit over 7'. In our old house we had two wood burning fireplaces, but rarely used them -- like once every few years. This one we use multiple times a day.

Sorry for pic quality -- it is overcast and I took it with my older iPad.

Well...I don't understand why fireplaces and TVs seem to be such a big deal...

In the Renaissance, they figured it out...just size your TV to fit your fireplace...simple!

Isn't history wonderful?

See how out of place those lampshades look . . .

I should have mentioned in my much earlier comment that our wood burning fireplaces also have heatolators with fans that blow the heat into the room. You can install a thermostat so that, when the doors are closed and you go to bed, the fan automatically shuts off when the fire dies down. The one in our living room even has the heat blown from the sides of the fireplace instead of the front, so that, when the doors are open, heat is coming from 3 directions. Your fireplace turned out beautifully! I hope you get many hours of enjoyment from it!

Have you considered something sorta like this...?

Since OP seemed to have expectations of functional heat and no one else mentions it allow me - typical fireplaces will not heat a home. They rarely heat a room when in use and when you consider the year-round air exfiltration, they are major net energy losers.

Inserts with blowers and woodstoves are different but fireplaces should never be chosen with expectations of functional usefulness. Choosing fireplaces is an emotional decision, not practical.

"Also, not as much heat is produced as an efficiency, so it does not save much on the heating bill in the winter."

Just to pile on what what Springtime said... It is not saving anything on your heating bill. Unless it is totally sealed then it is sucking heat out of your house. I'm very energy conscious and really dislike this bit about fireplaces but OTOH I do really enjoy wood fires. Sometimes we have to make choices and compromises.

Wood-burning has significant drawbacks. I'd choose gas (behind sealed glass doors) every time.

Here's why:

- Cutting and stacking wood is real work, assuming you even have access to trees to cut. And you have to wait for it to "dry" -- you can't burn green wood. Sure, you can have a cord of wood delivered, but it's expensive. And you need a dry place to store the wood.

- Once you have the wood, keeping the wood box filled is another chore ... sweeping up the bitty bits of wood is another chore ... cleaning the ashes is another chore. Personally, I want fewer chores.

- As people above commented, a wood fire takes a good 30 minutes to "catch" and really get a good start ... whereas you can have a gas fire in 30 seconds. A wood fire requires attention.

I look at this list and think the exact opposite. I want to remain as healthy as possible. A bit of effort bringing wood in or cutting it or even just cleaning up after it is very beneficial activity that will keep me healthy, feeling good, and from becoming overweight or obese. This especially as we get older.

I'm fine with it taking some time (both hauling wood in and waiting for it to catch). Anything that slows life down a bit and reduces stress is a good thing.

We enjoy hearing the crackling of the fire and smelling it when it's burning well.

OTOH, I don't like that fireplaces are net energy losses and if it is not burning and drafting well then I get concerned about breathing VOC's. Hopefully this latter will be significantly reduced or eliminated in our new house with taller chimneys and better MUA.

Who doesn't love a wood burning fire? The problems come when burning inside of a home. You may not start a house fire, but are guaranteed to waste energy and hurt indoor air quality. Satisfying this emotional desire is best done with a fire ring, chiminea or outdoor fireplace.

I generally agree. However, we still enjoy occasional wood fires inside on winter evenings and when it's below freezing outside for 4 or 5 months of the year a fire outside is not much of an option and a fire inside is very welcoming on cold winter nights.

In our case we'll have a fireplace in our family room as well as one outside on our covered and somewhat protected from the elements porch. It'll be interesting to see how much we can use the outside fireplace before having to move inside for the winter.

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EVERY bit of window in a house is energy loss. The fewer and smaller the better. From an energy standpoint there should ideally be no windows. But we enjoy windows and they're good for our health.

Hardcore energy folks want as little ventilation in to a house as possible because ventilation wastes energy. On the other hand limited ventilation may result in poor IAQ and may impact our health.

Builders who use plywood sheathing (vs OSB) are reluctant to move to ZIP-R because it apparently results in less solid construction and more creaks & groans.

Choices and compromises.

For us, we have a lot of windows but they're all triple glaze Loewen. IAQ will win over energy efficiency every time. I prefer the energy efficiency and lack of thermal bridging of ZIP-R*. We'll take a bit of energy loss and possibly lower IAQ for a bit to enjoy a wood fire on cold winter evenings and especially when entertaining.

* I wish that ZIP-R had come out several years sooner and that it had proven to be really good structurally as I think it would have been a great option for us (and every house IMO).