When I was growing up, in the winter time months of the year we would all stay warm from the authentic fireplace that we had in the living room. Thinking back to those days now that it is getting to be winter again here, I have to say that I sort of miss those old days growing up with the real fireplace in the house. Today as an adult I do not have a real fireplace, but I opted in to invest in one of those electric fireplaces for my home. While the electric fireplace looks nice and does keep the living room warm, there is nothing like a real authentic fireplace. It may be just me with the nostalgia. But from an energy saving point of view having to run a fireplace with nothing but natural wood and fire cost nothing. While running the electric fireplace does actually take up some energy use and shows on the monthly electric bills. But I really love my electric fireplace and would not want to turn it in for anything in the whole world! I do not mind paying the higher electric bills just to be able to enjoy the indoor comfort of my electric fireplace. Electric fireplaces are not cheap by any means, but they are not expensive either. You can buy them for a little over one thousand dollars if they are on sale. If not on sale they are usually around 15 hundred bucks, which still is not bad compared to what a real authentic fireplace installation would cost in a home that does not have a fireplace already built in.