I Can Make 20 Candles a Day With a Double Boiler but Now Need to Make 100 — What Candle-Making Equipment Should I Upgrade First?

What changes when 20 becomes 100

At 20 candles a day you are a maker. At 100 you are running a small production shift, and the shift has a shape: melt, scent, pour, wick-check, cool, clean. The double boiler got you here because 20 candles of 200 g is only 4 kg of scented wax. You can melt that in a couple of pans, stir by hand and still finish by lunch.

At 100 candles of 200 g, the daily figure becomes 20 kg of scented wax. Using CSI's convention of fragrance load as a percentage of total candle weight, at 8% that is 18.4 kg of wax and 1.6 kg of fragrance oil. Add a 5% planning allowance for spills, pitcher residue and the odd rejected candle and you need to prepare about 21 kg (20 ÷ 0.95 = 21.05 kg). That is the number every equipment decision on this page is measured against.

Before spending anything, time one normal 20-candle day. Write down how many minutes go to melting, to scenting and stirring, to pouring, and to cleaning. Most makers who do this find that melting and re-melting eats the largest share, because a double boiler moves heat through water and a pan, slowly, a couple of kilograms at a time. If your timing sheet says otherwise — if wicking or packing is the slow part — your first upgrade is different, and the rest of this page will still help you rank it.

The first upgrade: melting capacity, sized honestly

For most people crossing from 20 to 100 a day, the first real purchase is a dedicated electric melter. The reason is arithmetic, not fashion. With a pan that comfortably takes 2 kg, 21 kg means around 11 separate melts. Each melt is a fresh wait, a fresh temperature check and a fresh chance to heat one batch differently from the last.

CSI's Electric Wax Melter (Imported) is listed at ₹21,240.00 for the 10 kg capacity and ₹25,960.00 for the 20 kg. The product page states the 10 kg unit melts 10 kg of soy wax in approximately 30 minutes at 100°C. At 21 kg a day, the 10 kg unit covers your day in three fills. The third fill is small — about 1 kg — so in practice you might run two full fills and top up the second, or plan a small final batch for a different fragrance.

Should you jump straight to the 20 kg? At 100 candles a day, probably not. Two things argue for the smaller unit. First, a 20 kg batch of one fragrance is 100 candles of a single scent; if your 100 candles are spread across several fragrances, most of that tank sits half-used. Second, a larger mass of wax holds heat longer and takes longer to bring down to your fragrance-addition temperature. That is useful for long pouring sessions, but it is dead time at the start of each batch. Buy the 20 kg when a single fragrance regularly needs more than one 10 kg batch a day.

The second upgrade: a thermometer you trust

This one is cheap and easy to skip, which is why it is here. The melter's temperature display runs from 60°C to 100°C and the listing states a deviation of ±10°C. That is honest of the listing, and it means the dial cannot be your only reading. A dial that says 85°C could be sitting anywhere from 75°C to 95°C.

A separate Pen Thermometer at ₹354.00 lets you read the wax itself. At 100 candles a day it also lets you record the actual temperature at scenting and at the first and last pour of each batch, which is exactly the record you will want the first time a batch behaves differently. CSI does not publish a range or accuracy figure for this thermometer, so check it against boiling water or a second thermometer when it arrives and note any offset.

The third upgrade: pouring vessels, not more heat

Once the melter solves supply, the next queue forms at the jars. Pouring straight from a melter tap or ladling from the tank into 100 jars is slow and messy. A Steel Pouring Pitcher in the Large 600 ml size is ₹708.00. At roughly 0.9 g per ml for melted soy wax — a general approximation — a full 600 ml pitcher carries around 540 g, which is two 200 g candles with a little left for the next trip. Two pitchers let one person pour while the other refills, or let you run two fragrances without cross-contamination.

Here is what the first stage of this upgrade path looks like in money, using CSI's listed prices:

What not to buy yet

At 100 a day you do not need a filling machine, a heated pouring pot with a tap, curing racks from a shop-fitter or a second melter. CSI does not sell dispensing machines, automated lines, heated pouring pots with taps or curing racks, and this is not a stage where you should be shopping for them elsewhere either. Run the new setup for two weeks and time it again.

The honest order is: melter, thermometer, pitchers, then measure. If the timing sheet shows the melter now waits for you — wax ready, jars not — your next spend is on wick preparation, jar layout or an extra pair of hands, not heat. If the sheet shows you finish pouring and then wait on the next batch to melt, that is the signal to consider a second 10 kg unit or the 20 kg.

Power and heat at the new scale

A double boiler on a gas ring and an electric melter on a wall socket are different risks. Check the rating plate on the melter and make sure the socket and circuit are suitable for it before running it alongside other heating appliances in the same room. Keep the melter on a stable, heat-resistant surface where nobody has to reach across it. Ten kilograms of hot wax is a far more serious burn risk than a pan of two, so decide where pitchers are filled and where they are carried before the first full day, and keep that route clear.

Treat your first week at 100 candles as a trial, not a commitment. The equipment above does not lock you in; the melter still earns its keep if you settle at 60 a day, and it becomes one half of a two-unit setup if you grow to 200.

Where this page fits

CSI already has guides that cover parts of this question. This page takes the production-floor angle; these go deeper on the rest:

Three things to buy for this job

Frequently asked questions