How do you heat your house with wood?

Our neighborhood gets power outages on a regular basis, including two this year that were extended (7 days in the summer, and 36 hours in the winter). I never want to go through this again, especially in the winter months. We're building our dream home in a few years and I would like to have the capability to heat our house with wood. We will probably do mostly solar power, but I'd like to have a back up. I've discovered that, when it comes to heating your home, most traditional fireplaces are a joke. I know some people use wood burning stoves for heat, are there any regular type fireplaces that will put out heat? What do I have to know for when I plan my new home? Are there any good websites or books that will help me with this?