Ditto on the wood stove ... they can be so efficient as to almost drive you out of the room with their heat.
We have / had one of those lousy, poorly designed residential wood-burning fireplaces. It was terrible. Had the furnace go out last winter, and I thought "well, no big deal ... WE have a wood-burning fireplace". Yea, right. You had to stand within about two feet to even feel any heat, and the house got cold as he!!.
We bought a stove insert, made by Lopi ... www.lopistoves.com ... and it has been great. Very efficient, and transformed that lousy fireplace into a useful heating appliance. Not cheap, but well worth it in my book.
They also manufacture freestanding stoves and gas stoves.
We had a freestanding stove at our cabin in northern AZ, and it worked great as well.
Also check out the wood pellet stoves ... we decided against them, but some folks feel they are really the ticket.
Best of luck.
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