If an OWB or any other device for solid fuel, uses clean dry wood and burns it 'perfectly' you still get wood smoke. The worst of this soot is the invisible pm2.5 and smaller. You can't see it or clean it up and it can kill.
Wood burner, can you still smell? I suspect that like smokers people around wood smoke can't smell it any longer. As for it not bothering you, it doesn't seem to bother wood burners. Any ideas on why that is the case? Smokers are less bothered by their smoke also. What is up with that?
Add to the list against OWBs and wood stoves of any age the cost per pound of wood burned to everyone else. Jane Hall, University of California at Fullerton reported that for the SF bay area
every pound of wood burned cost society (the 90% who never burn) $2.
Our medical insurance companies are floundering... they, and increasing the patients (victims of wood smoke) carry the brunt of the medical cost of wood smoke. Wood burners need to keep their smoke at home and contained. Then the rest of society would get on with living, not being sick all the time.
Under legal on BurningIssues.org please see a new case where the Health Department in Canada ordered a cease and desist (
http://burningissues.org/car-www/legal/index.html) for a wood burning device. This makes a lot of sense.
Armidale, Australia had a great article yesterday of government sponsored help to insulate houses. That is smart money.