I'm looking into putting in a wood burning fireplace insert into my existing fireplace. Does anyone have any suggestions on which ones to use or stay away from? Do yo have to run a pipe up your chimney with these or can you use the existing chimney? I'm wanting one with a blower that can help heat our house and cut back on power bills in the winter.

We havn't used ours in several years, but they do work well. It just slides into the fireplace cavity and has a fiberglass looking seal around the bricks. The fan is two speed and kicks on when it gets hot. The constant problem with dirt, bark and crap coming in on the firewood was why we stopped using it.

Most I've seen retrofitted are Buck Stoves. I put in a KozyHeat z42 in my house when we built it--works great, using it now and keep it going day & night. Xtrodinaire is a comparable zero clearance insert and also good.
I think you'd put a pipe inside chimney but not positive.

We built our house in 1988.

We put in a Hatteras brand insert at time of build.

It's still going strong and it's all we heat our house with in the cold weather months.

It has an adjustable blower on it and it will put out some heat.

Not sure if they are still made but if they are they are well worth looking into.

buck stove for us..works great. No pipe just put it in existing fireplace

Folks do a lot of wood-burning here in Oregon. We got a Regency from our local fireplace store. It does require two tubes up your chimney--one for intake air, one for exhaust. Comes with a two-speed blower that can operate with a manual switch or built-in thermostat.
https://www.regency-fire.com/Products/Wood/Wood-Inserts.aspx

We have a Xtec insirt and it works well. Has a thermostat and blower on it. We just had our chimney cleaned last week and the guy told me that new regulations are that you have to have a insulated pipe running from your insert through the chimney.

Thanks for all the recommendations. I'll check into all of them and see what looks best. I've heard the same thing about requiring the insulated pipe going up the chimney. That was the most expensive part of it for the people I know that have them.

If your chimney inspects out good and there are no problems, that doesn't necessarily mean you have to have one