Its a tough call, and ultimately one you will have to make for yourself
If you are sensitive to smoke you might struggle... Have you spent time with a real fire? Although a good chimney takes 99% of all smoke out the room, you will ALWAYS get
some into the room, often a little puff when you open the door. Do keep in mind, wood smoke is a lot nicer smell than cigarettes smoke , a lot less pervasive
You also get plenty of dust. For me , I am happy with it all this, I've never lived with anything else but a real fire, and the benefits outway the costs . Fire is essentially our only the traditional heat source, Humans have lived with fires for 1,000s of years, every other source of heat is new & novel in the grand scheme
Ask yourself this, do you really want to have to light a fire everytime you want to boil a kettle? or cook beans on toast? Cooking with a real fire forces you to take a more holistic, slow approach to life, no 'on demand' convenience like we are so used to..
Price for a log burner install is anywhere from £500 DIY to a couple of grand professionally installed.
I mean no offense, don't mean to sound rude, but after reading your post, I really don't think a log fire is for you. go for LPG , I think it's a much better option for someone with your particular needs. LPG is almost completely odourless, and so long as you have adequate ventilation the fumes shouldn't be an issue either
Btw a propex LPG heater is often a better option than a desiel night heater, similar idea but cleaner burning, more reliable - they come up cheap second hand on eBay
HS2000 blown air heater fuelled from Propane, Butane or LPG gas
www.propexleisure.co.uk