The color of smoke

[swestall]

If your stack is an inside and insulated one, like mine and BB's, you won't get a lot of steam. The stack stays warm all the way up and condensation does not occur. If you have an outside stack or your inside stack is not insulated then it can cool toward the top and that will show up as steam. Creosote doesn't form from steam it forms from smoke, specifically the unburned chemicals within the smoke. If you don't smell the heavy scent of wood smoke then you most likely are not creating creosote. The only real way to tell for sure is go up there and look down the stack to see if you have creosote buildup. (of course inbetween burns) Black shiny is bad, dry looking deposits are not as bad but not great. Chunks of buildup that look like burnt marshmellows is really no good.
Having said all this, I think if you keep up what you are doing and burn on the hot side, you'll be OK as long as you make sure there isn't a buildup now.

 

[Diabel]

Yeah a good 10' of my chimney is exposed. I assumed it was steam since it is only visible when the outside temps drop below 0*

Thanks

 

[ICY99]

I'm curious too about odor. When my PE is burning well, not only is the smoke hard to see (forget seeing it against a blue sky), it doesn't smell like typical wood stove smoke. It's been a while since I burned coal, but from what I remember, the odor is more like coal than wood! Anybody else notice this?

I notice the coal smell too when my summit is burning efficiently. It smells good.

 

[Cluttermagnet]

The color of my smoke is mostly shimmery/ transparent. ;-) I had one of those wonderful "ahah!" moments just this morning- I was talking with my neighbor and he asked me if I was "burning any wood over there?" I resisted the temptation to chuckle, but it sure felt good! Seems I must be burning pretty efficiently. Not bad for a rookie, I guess. The Oak kindling and tinder I use for starting don't smoke much, either. There's a little smoke at times if new splits have bark on them, or if the air flow isn't set right and the load starts smouldering. Not for long- I'm always on top of that.