I really want my first fire to go with out any problems. My wife is borderline pyrophobic. I want to get some good wood that doesn't hiss, pop or spit. Or she freak out. need some help picking out some tools as all I have is a hatchet. Was looking at a fireback is that a good thing or just decoration? What I remember is if you want a fire you have to split a lot of kindling. I guess I need a poker and some tongs.
You can get inserts for the fireplace that have glass doors. I will let others talk about those. With the fire contained she might feel better about it. How about some pics of your fireplace. You might want to look at getting a moisture meter. The ideal dryness is 20% or less. By all means get a chimney sweep up. If the previous owners didn't clean that chimney out, could have a potential for chimney fire. I learned that the hard way.
If you can get your paws on some well seasoned ash you will do well. Stay away from anything not seasoned aka green, most evergreen has possible popping issues with sap pockets, do not use construction cut offs as your tinder or wood as it can pop and possibility of substances like treating or paint fumes. Start with small splits for kindling and work your way up in size. Check out the firestarter pucks if you really want trouble free starting.
Calling Backwoods Savage. Can you post your primer link for him? eSk8er this wood be a good read for you.
Welcome to the forum eSk8er. As for your wife, ask her to consider a furnace. Is there a fire in a furnace? Is she afraid of that? It is a whole lot more fire than you'll get in a stove or fireplace! No doubt it will be a difficult task to get wood that is good for burning next winter. The reason is that wood needs time to dry. And pay no attention to those who say their wood is seasoned. What is seasoning? That really says nothing at all. Please read the primer, and thanks goes out to Chazsbetterhalf and MikeInMa for mentioning it and giving you a link to it. Please read and re-read that primer and please also have your wife read it. Tools you need is an axe rather than a hatchet. Perhaps a splitting maul. Naturally everyone will mention the chain saw but perhaps you have no experience with one and if not, please be very careful and get with someone who has some experience with one and also learn how to sharpen it yourself. And don't forget that an axe or hatchet also need sharpening. It is said that if a man is going out to work with an axe and has only 4 hours to work, spend the first hour sharpening. It will pay dividends. Naturally there are many tools which a good wood hoarder can use. Some are absolutely necessary but many are just really nice to have but a new burner can get along without many of the tools. The basics are the saw, axe, splitting maul and some way to move the wood. The other is to do lots of reading on this forum and do not be afraid to ask questions. Most of us are here to help. But we also try to not be all seriousness as a little laughter goes a long ways to make everyone's day brighter.
Oh, and eSk8er , hello and welcome to the forum. Don't ever worry about asking what you think is a silly question. Those are asked on here quite regularly.
Just go down to home depot or tractor supply. Can pick one up for about $20 bucks, I think. I used Chaz's meter today and I really haven't figured out completely but got it work so they are simple.
You will get several different opinions on this. As for me, I've been burning wood most of my life time (and I am 77, close to 78 now) and I've not yet seen a need for a moisture meter. But it might help some. If you want to know how the wood is going to burn, you can always take 3 splits outdoors and light them to see how they burn. How easy is it to start the fire, etc. Some fire starters can help a lot. I still use them and they help, especially my wife (we use Super Cedars and get 4 fires from each super cedar).
