During the summer and thru the fall I had settings of 155 on and 160 off. The OWB was being used mostly for DHW and minimal heat. This seemed to work very well for a while then, when the temps got colder and more demand was put on the OWB, it was cycling a great deal. I had a theory that I might be better off with a greater temp spread and get more effective burn times. It always smoked a lot when it first comes on then clears up after it gets going after a while. My thinking was I was getting my most efficient burns toward the end of the cycle.
I changed my spread to 9 degrees and raised the off temp to 164. I does not cycle as many times now and I believe I am getting for effective use of what wood I am using. I don't seem do be using any more wood even tho the outside temps have dropped a good deal since I made the change. It has only been about three days since making the change so, the jury is still out until I get more time with these settings. I does look good at this point.
I wish there was some way to get accurate info on settings and their effectiveness on each OWB. I just don't know what would be a good method of measurement.