Our simple 50 + year old slab house has a brick fireplace, brick chimney, which we have never used in the 6 years we have lived here.

We have central air and heat and live in a mild climate so don't need it.

Still I fantasize about a pretty fire glowing in the winter.

Is some kind of gas fire insert the main realistic option?

We have gas for cooking and heat, but would a gas fire require running "ugly" gas lines outside the front of our house as that is where the fireplace is?

Any vague ideas as to the cots?

No cheap and easy solution. While there are electric 'fireplaces' they are not that real looking.

A set of gas logs would work. You don't need any kind of insert as long as the existing fireplace is sound. But gas logs do require a gas line. Since you are on a slab the line could be run through the attic space, inside the wall to the fireplace, but it will cost to do so. Even running open gas line is fairly expensive, so hiding it will cost even more.

Still, a gas log unit would look real. One concern would be that with the heat on in the house and a mild flame gas log unit, you could wind up actually taking more heat out of the house than you put in it. A glass door to seal the fireplace could solve that issue.

The gas line could be buried so you wouldn't see it. It is possible to retrofit a set of gas logs in your fireplace.

Hard to say on the costs, it is going to depend on how close the gas line is to your fireplace. You'd need a plumber to do that work.

Here is an article on them: http://www.lowes.com/cd_Gas+Lo...ing+Guide_830484853_

A quick internet search shows costs for just the logs starting around $400. The gas line and installation could easily run $500 or more.

Thanks to you both. I guess it is doable, kind of expensive, kind of what I thought it would entail.

I know most of the heat goes up a chimney, I would have glass doors, if I decide to do it, more expense.....

Maybe I will get a used computer, download a video of burning logs to it, and put it in the fireplace, ha ha.

I had a set of gas logs retro-fitted into my zero clearance (factory built) fireplace in our last house. I had to have the gas run about 35 feet in the crawlspace to the fireplace. It ran me over $500, possibly closer to $1000. The unit I installed was a ventless model though we left the damper open slightly. We had to leave the glass doors open when it was running and it put out a fair amount of heat.

Our current home has a direct vent gas fireplace. It is much nicer than dealing with a real wood fireplace. Storing firewood is a termite magnet. If you don't have ready access to firewood it isn't cheap getting firewood in a suburban setting and it creates a bit of a mess in the house. I heated my first home with a wood stove when I was home, otherwise it was heated with a new at the time heat pump. In 1986 a heat pump wasn't the best way to heat a townhouse in central PA in January so the wood stove was a great addition to the basement.

Have you looked at the higher end fake electric fires? They can look pretty realistic now.
We have a wood burning fireplace, (which we have not used in 3 years). The appeal waned after 20 years of use, cleaning, stacking, etc that Sparky mentioned.
Our mountain home has a gas fireplace. Prior owners had not installed a circulation fan, so I did that and at least we get a little heat out of it. But honestly it has not been on in a year either.

Personal reason "I" would never again truly desire a fireplace:

The look of a fireplace can be a nice decorating point, but I cannot get excited about situating chairs/seating and staring at electric or gas flames. The wood fire needs to be tended, so I can understand the point, and the flames are constantly changing...alive in other words. Not so much with the others.

wow, thanks to conrad and sparky, some more good insight and ideas.

this sounds hokey, but it works
my mom, had her buck stove insert removed. from the fire place
and i installed a flat screen tv in the fire place
she has a cd of a fire. and it plays music also
the old embers screen, can be closed to hide the tv
making the room cozy for chatting and entertaining
with music in the background