Some more newby questions

[TexasTommy]

Just unpacked my first BS611 (my 3 month early bday present to myself). I've bbq'ed using bullets, offset horizontals, offset verticals, and an Egg (waste of time). But this is new to me!

My first question is this: is there a general rule of thumb for temp setting? You have six bars going LOW to HIGH. Is there a temp change increment for each bar? Or is it just "suck it n see"?

Second question: Do you have to fiddle with the temp setting a lot to maintain constant temp? I would want to go low n slow for up to 12 hours, and worry this might upset my nap time.

Third question:  If I want to set my BS611 to smoke / cook overnight, I will need a PID, correct? someone I met talked about setting and forgetting, but did not  mention the PID. I checked Auber site and got sticker shock on some of the models. What's the best value for what I need?

[Coogles]

The temperature control on the BS611 is basically a rheostat that allows you to control the amount of power going to the main heating element, the actual chamber temperature will vary depending on the ambient air temperature, wind, how far the vent is open etc.  You'll have to fiddle with it to get it to stabilize at the cook temp you want and check on it periodically if the outside air temp changes, but the box is insulated so you shouldn't see wild swings in the internal temp.  If you want to be able to leave the smoker unattended for long cooks a PID controller is the way to go, if the PnP ones are too expensive you can DIY a controller for $60 or so in parts.