Kevin wrote.."Problem is, fireplaces suck the heat out of the house."
Kevin,
During the blizzard of 78 here in Ohio, I was living in a new house with electric heat, without a fireplace. After the electric was out for 12 hours, and since we had two little kids, we decided to tough it out at my brother's house, which was across the road from us. He had a fireplace in his "fixed up" basement. The electric was out for 38 hours but we stayed pretty warm around the fireplace. The trouble was that a fireplace need combustion air, which was drawn in through the rest of the house. The bathroom was upstairs and after about 30 hours without electric, there was skim ice in the toilet. On the other hand, our closed up house across the road never got below 48 degrees.
Many people in this area bought wood stoves after that event, but the majority have made their way to the landfill. Much easier to just turn up the thermostat.
Jack Hoying
Fort Loramie, Ohio (currently at -3 degrees)