About four years ago, we paid $1,500 for a fireplace insert with a Country brand name, which was supposed to be very efficient. It heats our California Sierra Foothills house quite well on about 1-1/2 cords per season. We had been paying $200 a cord, but it's up to about $400 a cord for hardwood here this year. I'm glad we bought this year's wood in the Spring.
It sure is nice to have a window that allows us to watch our heat source as it keeps us warm. Our previous insert had solid metal doors, and it used a lot of wood and didn't keep us warm.
Sometimes, I'd like to have a thermostat to turn on, instead of having to work to warm up the house in the morning - but it's nice to have a woodburning stove during power outages, and when the electric bill comes.
-Joe-