Wood Fire Oven Bakery: is this smoke normal?

[CuriousSoul]

Hello everyone! I have a question for the community regarding the type of smoke I am seeing from the neighboring bakery that has a wood fire oven. Does it look normal and as expected?

We recently moved to this place and noticed that every evening there is a lot of dense black smoke coming from the chimney of the bakery. The smell is more like burning plastic rather than wood. The episode usually lasts for 10 to 15 minutes and after that the smoke disappears. Also, the tiles on the roof of the bakery look like they are covered with soot.

We don’t speak well the local language, so communicating with the owner of the bakery is not easy. We tried and all she said was that she has all the permissons. However, before we try to complain to the authorities, I just want to be certain that what we experience is abnormal. My major concern is that the smoke looks unhealthy and can be potentially harmful. While it doesn’t last for a long time, we are exposed to it every single day.

We want them to continue operating, but if there is a way to improve the air quality, I hope they’d consider it.

 

[CuriousSoul]

Here is the photo of the chimney and the part of the roof

 

[gthomas785]

It's really hard to say based on a few photos and video. Yes, it's normal for a wood fire to smoke especially when starting from cold. However, if it really smells like burning plastic then it's possible they are burning something other than wood, or using some chemical to clean the oven at the end of the day?
At this point, you've already reached out to the owner which was the right first step. Since they are not willing to talk about it, I'm afraid there's not much else to do unless you can prove they are doing something illegal.
How much rain do you get in your area? The buildup on the chimney looks heavy, like I would expect from a stack that is constantly smoking. But if as you say this smoke is only lasting 10-15 minutes a day, I would not expect so much buildup from wood smoke unless it has been accumulating for a very long time.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Im not sure how often a baking oven would need to be cleaned. It’s possible they are lighting up some trash every night.

Are there any other wood fired bakeries around you can compare burning habits with?

 

[EbS-P]

Why would they be firing the oven at night before they leave? Smells like plastic? That would have me questioning what they are burning? But it could be the are sweeping the oven out at the end of the day. All the extra flour and crumbs.

That much black soot seems like a lot. First thing is to get an air quality meter. Measure what you can and note when readings spike.

Read up on what permits they need to have and search that they have them.

 

[Ctwoodtick]

To me, it sound like a lot more smoke than one would expect from a wood fire. The smell thing is odd as well. If it is bothersome and rises to a level beyond a normal mild smoke smell at times, I might try calling the town to complain.

You made the effort already to talk with the owner, so if it’s not improving at all, you may have to take it a step further.

We’ve had previous threads on this forum about neighborhood woodsmoke and it can be tricky. I myself, typically fall on the side of the woodburner, but my opinion is that a business should be held to a bit of a higher standard for many reasons and a plastic smell coming from a bakery chimney is gross.

I’m not a pro chimney sweep so take this next info with that in mind. - What is interesting as well I that thick black smoke coming from a wood fire chimney is actually NOT normal. It can sometimes indicate a chimney fire. When I would burn dry firewood in a fireplace, I would either get no smoke or a little light grey smoke. If the wood was less dry, it would be a grey and bluish color. I do not recall ever having thick black smoke coming from a wood fire in a fireplace. I wonder if the inside of that chimney has a lot of buildup that once in a while ignites partially.