I bought this last summer and try to use it every other weekend. I've loved it. It is easy to use and I like not having to maintain a fire or temperature (though I may try a wood/charcoal smoker in the future). I have used it in outside temperatures as low as high 30s and low 40s. It consumes more electricity to keep temperature but even in those temperatures, my cooking time hasn't changed. I love this thing! My buddy bought one too and we use each of ours year round. I wrestled with what kind of smoker to get until a friend told me he had this model and loved it. So, I figured I try it and start small. I only cook enough for my wife and I so I haven't loaded up with a lot of food but for what I've been doing, a couple of racks of ribs, half dozen chicken quarters, etc., it's been fantastic. I wanted to focus more on the flavor than maintaining a fire at this point and this has been very easy to use.