Here, in Central Texas, my home has three fireplaces. Each designed to accommodate wood, but all have gas feeds that make it possible to run them without the smoke of wood fires. We don't run them for heat nor decorative effect. The are just architectural features of the house that some people might choose to utilize for the mood that a fire can convey.

They are a bit like windows: not energy efficient but nice to look at/through.

During the historic cold weather going on this week, I have no confidence that they would help if the power went off.