Someone please offer suggestions, since I am in a very similar situation and would be glad to read them. I’m too old to handle the mess and trouble of a wood fire, especially as rarely as it gets cold enough here to justify it, but would love a little gas log if it wouldn’t be too fumy. Not ready for a fake plastic electric insert yet.

In our last house we put in a see through fireplace between the kitchen and family room. It could either be installed for wood or gas. Everything was the same, flu, box, etc except the grates were different. We chose to make it gas. The updraft took care of any fumes like it takes up smoke from a wood fire. Our gas logs were ceramic and gave off nice heat. It did keep us toasty warm one winter when we lost electricity for a couple days. We pulled some mattresses in the family room to sleep. Our CO2 alarms never registered any fumes.

My last home had a full masonry fireplace designed for burning wood. We eventually tired of purchasing wood, storing wood, and hauling wood. We installed a set of gas logs which were much more convenient to use and much less hazardous (okay, I managed to activate the smoke alarm on a couple of occasions until the flue was heated and proper draft was established.) We had the flue inspected and cleaned prior to installation of the gas logs and we had the gas piping installation inspected by code compliance for safety.

If your fireplace hasn't been used in a while, inspection of the flue is your first step. The condition of the flue may limit your options.

I'm a gas log specialist and can help you best if you post some pictures of the fireplace.