Fireplace...in Brisbane?

Image by Eco Smart Fire

Is it crazy to want to put a fireplace in the new house? In Brisbane, the average Winter generally only goes down to 11 degrees and the height of summer can get into the 40s. We don't really have a Winter here.

I love, love, love this fireplace by Eco Smart Fire and would love to put it (like this pic) at the top of the stairs. I could imagine it heating the entire house during Winter just to take that edge off  the chills at night. It would be in the along the same wall as the lounge room and would warm the space up during chilly Friday night movie nights. On the other side it would be opposite the reading nook, so I could put a little reading chair and lamp and I could read a book while warming myself near the fire.

I may actually be a little biased at the moment, as I've just arrived in Dublin, Ireland where it's SPRING and reached a high of 8 degrees! It's beautifully crisp and cold and everywhere you go is the smell of a crackling open fire.

Anyway, it's $1980 and I'm not sure if that even includes installation so I'd have to be REALLY sure it's a good idea before I went ahead.

What do you think?