Turning fireplace from gas to wood burning

You should have a chimney expert inspect the chimney to see if was designed to burn a solid fuel. My preference would be that it have a clay tile liner and be well sealed. When you said, "the problem is that gas has gone so high in price per gallon that it would be more cost effective for us to convert it back to a wood burning fireplace", are you speaking of propane gas, or another type of gas? Also, wood can be cheap depending on your supply but it needs a lot of "tending" and "clean-up".

Verify that the size of the flue is adequate for wood burning. Wood burning fireplaces require larger flues than gas.

Also, you should understand that most of the heat will go up the flue compared to gas inserts.