How much wood does an efficient chulha save in a small dyeing unit?

Half, in BEE's Solapur report. A smokeless chulha with a grate, air damper and chimney takes a small hank dyeing unit from 36 t to 18 t of wood a year. Cost Rs 0.53 lakh, saving Rs 0.45 lakh at Rs 2.50 a kg, payback 1.18 years (2010), and about two weeks to build.

The open chulha today

• Open fired, with no grate, damper or chimney; the dye vessel sits over the flame.
• BEE measured 6.25% efficiency; units across the cluster ran at 6 to 10%.
• A typical unit makes about 94,000 kg a year on 36 t of wood and 103,500 kWh, so 0.38 kg of wood and 1.10 kWh per kg.
• Dyeing takes 3 to 4 hours a day; the chulha also holds soaping water hot.

What the efficient chulha adds

• A bigger combustion space with a designed grate, so logs burn fully.
• A damper to control air, and a chimney that takes smoke out of the shed.
• Flue gas routed past the vessel before it leaves, plus a small pump to circulate hot water from a tank.
• A trial chulha in a Solapur unit measured about 30% efficiency; the report rates it 25 to 30%.

Cost and build

• Rs 0.36 lakh chulha, chimney and wiring; Rs 0.10 lakh civil work; contingency and interest while building bring it to Rs 0.53 lakh.
• About two weeks. Build it beside the old one and there is no lost dyeing time.
• Life about 10 years.

The saving is a cautious one

Going from 6.25% to 25% efficiency should cut wood to about a quarter, near 9 t a year. The report books only half, 18 t. That leaves room for a poorer build or wetter wood. Weigh wood for a week before and after and compare kg of wood per kg of yarn.

One unit, one year

• Wood saved: 36 less 18 = 18 t, x Rs 2,500 = Rs 0.45 lakh
• Payback: 0.53 / 0.45 = 1.18 years
• Wood per kg of yarn: 0.38 kg falls to 0.19 kg
• Biogenic CO2 avoided: 18 t x 3,200 kcal/kg x 4.1868 = 241 GJ x 112 kg = about 27 t
• The report's 25 t used 1.4 t CO2 a tonne of wood; fossil CO2 does not change

Wood CO2 uses the IPCC 2006 default of 112 kg CO2 a GJ with the report's calorific value of 3,200 kcal a kg. It is biogenic and reported separately, outside Scopes 1 to 3.

What Senseible does here

Senseible reads your electricity bills into records with CO2. It has no factor for wood, so keep wood tonnes from purchase bills as a separate biogenic line; the green loan check shows what a lender asks for, even on a small job.

• Green loan readiness check
• Solapur textiles: wood fuel and carbon
• Efficient wood hot water generator
• Firewood by the quintal: emissions

Sources: BEE, Detailed project report: energy efficient chulha, Solapur textile cluster (2010, SAMEEEKSHA), IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 2 Energy, Tables 1.2 and 2.3, GHG Protocol Corporate Standard (biogenic CO2 reported separately)

Last reviewed 2026-10-31. Report figures are from a BEE SME programme project report; costs and paybacks are at 2010 prices. Check today's wood price.