‘chulha’ a smokeless stove by phillips design team, india

unmesh kulkarni and praveeen mareguddi from philips design team india were awarded this year’s INDEX:award for the home category.

the chulha is a stove designed to limit the dangerous health conditions caused by traditions of indoor cooking in many rural areas of the developing world.

the stove is being made available by philips design to the universe of social entrepreneurs so that they can, free of charge, produce the stove, themselves, and generate local business while helping counter what the world health organization estimates is some 1.6 million deaths per year from conditions prompted by the toxic fumes of indoor cooking with ‘bio-mass’ fuels (wood, dung, peat, etc.).

the chulha creates a safer environment for indoor cooking in several ways:

– this includes trapping smoke and heat inside a locally cast housing in such a way to heat two pot holes with a high rate of efficiency to require less fuel

– it then directs the smoke through a chimney chamber that includes a stack of slotted clay tablets, which capture particles as the smoke moves through, cleaning the exhaust before it leaves the assembly.

the overall design has kept with traditional stoves in india.

chulha stove by unmesh kulkarni and praveeen mareguddi for philips design

‘chulha’ a smokeless stove

chulha stove by unmesh kulkarni and praveeen mareguddi for philips design ‘chulha’ a smokeless stove

chulha stove by unmesh kulkarni and praveeen mareguddi for philips design ‘chulha’ a smokeless stove

design team: unmesh kulkarni; praveeen mareguddi, india. additional credits: bas griffioen; simona rocchi, the netherlands. partners: appropriate rural technology institute (ARTI); end-users.