I just care about getting lost in a good book.
I have a home office with a fireplace plus I spend most of my time in there sitting on my nice comfortable couch.
There’s no TV or video games in the home office either. I just want peace plus quiet plus to hear nothing but the crackling of the firewood. I like being able to escape from life for a bit plus I can do this in books. The fireplace keeps me comfortable plus hot plus the crackle of the flames is actually relaxing. I have to admit, on mornings when it’s too hot to use the fireplace, sometimes I turn on the air-conditioning just a bit so that the fireplace can still be used. I know this is a little ridiculous but I do like the fireplace immensely… My wifey has asked me why I would waste energy on the a/c when I’m using the fireplace at the same time, then she thinks it’s like using the gas furnace plus a/c at the same time plus it doesn’t make any sense to her. I cannot blame her. This is pretty similar, but it’s not the same… Not to me anyway, but you don’t get the same comfort from the gas furnace as you do from a fireplace. Besides, my buddy and I all waste a little bit. My wifey enjoys to take hour-long showers, for example, plus I don’t bug her about wasting all that water. I know running the A/C plus the fireplace at the same time is just the way that I am wasteful. Still, it doesn’t feel wasteful when I’m doing it.