Depending on your smoker, I find that you must control the stack as well on windy days. As the wind blows across the stack, it creates a greater pull, and on some smokers that can make the temperature difficult to control. Reducing the stack opening will reduce the effect of the wind. But this is probably for gusty conditions. If the wind is strong but steady, it may not matter as much.
As for using smoking wood for a heat source, I have seen great success, and awful results both from doing that. I have done apple wood over lump charcoal on a egg-type (Kamodo) grill set-up for low indirect heat, and the results were inedible. On the other hand, I have had excellent results with raw oak in an offset type smoker. So I think it depends on the wood you use, and how strong it is. I season my oak a year or more, but the apple wood was from a package, and was probably fairly fresh.
If I have a strong smoking wood I want to use, I'll usually not put the smoke wood in the fire intil the surface of the food is fairly warm. That way the bitter flavors in the strong smoke don't immediately condense on the cooler food and over-smoke it. And the kind of fire matters a lot as well. Often in an offset smoker that is not well sealed, the fire is a hot flame fire, so much of the smoke is burning up. In a cooler smoldering fire the smoke doesn't get a chance to burn at all, and it is easier to get too much of the most bitter part of the smoke flavor building up on your cooler food.
But regardless of the advice anyone gives you, your cooking conditions are different, and only you can do the work to try the different methods until you find out what works for you. The only way to know anything for sure is to get in there and try it, and adjust your method for the type of meat, the length of the cook, and the desired flavor.
