Is there a nice alternative to a real fire? (When no chimney...)

[linspins]

We used to have a (little) real fire at our last house, but sadly not here. The chimney breast has been taken out in the upstairs and loft, and we aren't thinking of re-instating it. I do miss the cosiness and comfort of a real fire though...are there any alternatives? Obviously we can't have a gas fire that needs a flue...can you get fires that don't need flues?
Or some kind of electric fire?

We bought the flue from flues.co.uk on the advice of another mumsnetter and it came to about £750 I think (it was £900 but we've got a few bits left over to send back!) and the fitting was £900. The fitters did comment that the quality didn't seem as high as with more expensive flues such as Selkirk, but said that it would function absolutely fine. Stove plus hearth was about £1300. We've got this stove

I think it looks really nice and has made a focal point for the room, which it needed. The metal flue is a quite visually striking - I like it, but I'm not sure everyone would. It would be a better arrangement for it to go out of an external wall but for various reasons this wouldn't have worked for us.

It can be a bit of a problem finding a fitter who will install a flue that you source yourself. I think I said further up the thread that most want to supply and fit, but it does cost a fair bit more in our experience (we've probably saved £1400-1500 on the flue alone by sourcing it ourselves. The stove was also a good few hundred cheaper by buying online). I think if we'd been fitting it in the summer which is a quiet period for stove fitters then it would have been easier to find someone. Another option would be to get a general builder to fit it and then get building control from the council to come and inspect and sign it off.

HTH! (I fear I may be becoming a stove-bore )