Question regarding bottom vents

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I was wondering if most people open and close 1 or 2 of the 3 bottom vents to control the temperature or do you open or close all 3 slightly to get the desired temperature change?
A friend of mine says that on a nice, sunny warm day he keeps 2 vents closed and 1 open. That usually keeps it at 250. If it is cold outside or night time, he opens 2 and leaves 1 closed.

Is this way easier than trying to equally open and close all 3 for the desired temp? Does it make it better to equally open or close all 3 because the air circulation is distributed more evenly?

Thanks
 
Good morning Rocky:
Normally following the Minion Method and depending on the volume of meat to be smoked and the related volume of charcoal I'm using, I open all three vents on start-up for 15-20 minutes then fully close any two and leave the third open to approximately 1/2 of max. If the WSM temp does not settle down I continue slightly adjusting the third vent until I reach my desired temp (usually 250 degrees via internal thermometer). As far as distribution of air, I've not found any difference no matter which one vent I choose to adjust but I'm no engineer so maybe there is some air flow law! During long burns and/or cooler days, I play with all three vent adjustments to keep my temp at 250 rather than adding more charcoal; I do keep the top vent totally open during the entire burn. Having said all this however, my experience is that in our part of the country (especially mine in Charleston) the question concerning vent adjustments for outdoor temps really isn't much of a concern except maybe in the dead of January or on one of the other two days or so of really cold winter weather down here!! Hope this helps.
?John
 
Thanks John,
That will help me quite a bit. Living way over in western North Carolina, we get about 5 months of cool or cold weather. So, I have to plan on factoring in the cold weather adjustments some of the time anyway.
 
Rocky
If it is windy close the vents in the wind and use only the vent down wind, other than that most combo's will work.
Jim
 
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