Picture of my new wood shed and my four-year-old OWB. The wood shed was built over two weekends by me, my two teenage boys and a bit of help from my brother who handled the metal roof panels. Footprint is 8' x 16' which if filled to capacity will be a touch over 6 cords. Right now there's about 1-1/2 cords in it which will easily get me through the end of the year but I have small woodpiles scattered all over the place; this was a way to consolidate a lot of my decent firewood.
That wisp of smoke coming out of the OWB is pretty typical. I try very hard to load the boiler at the high end of the burn cycle, when the water temperature is at its' highest point. That way, the wood has a few hours, sometimes all day, to "cook" and basically dry itself. When the damper opens, there isn't a lot of smoke to be seen. Probably twice to three times the visible quantity of smoke at the middle to end of the burn cycle.
That wisp of smoke coming out of the OWB is pretty typical. I try very hard to load the boiler at the high end of the burn cycle, when the water temperature is at its' highest point. That way, the wood has a few hours, sometimes all day, to "cook" and basically dry itself. When the damper opens, there isn't a lot of smoke to be seen. Probably twice to three times the visible quantity of smoke at the middle to end of the burn cycle.