It took me awhile to come around to candle warmers, but now I own three. While I love the ritual of lighting a candle and watching it burn, I actually prefer warmers to traditional burning. Here’s why…
10 Reasons To Buy a Candle Warmer
- Candle warmers make great home decor pieces.
- Candle warmers are safer than traditional burning.
- Candles last longer under a warmer.
- The scent fills the room faster.
- You can control the intensity of the scent.
- You can avoid soot and smoke.
- You can skip the wick trimming.
- You can even out tunneling with a candle warmer.
- Candle warmers can help you fix a lot of issues with poorly made candles.
- Warmers are good for people who want to burn a candle in shorter increments of time.
If you want to know where to buy a candle warmer, you can skip to that section here.
Candle warmers make great home decor pieces.
Just look at these gorgeous warmers. Not only are they a great way to enjoy your candles, but they also look great on a nightstand, side table, or shelf. There are a ton of interesting designs to choose from.
Candle warmers are safer than traditional burning.
My biggest fear about burning candles is the safety aspect. If you have small kids or dogs that like to knock things over or if you worry about leaving the house without remembering to blow out your candles, a warmer is a great way to enjoy candles in a flame-free way. All of my warmers have an automatic timer so that I can set them to go off after 2, 4, or 6 hours. I no longer have to worry about babysitting my candles. I can move around the house without worrying that something is burning in the other room.
Skip the open flame and get a candle warmer. The peace of mind is incredible.
Candles last longer under a warmer.
This is my favorite reason. My candles last much longer when I use a candle warmer. I was curious to see the difference so I’ve even tested this out by using the same candle both ways.
I took two 8 oz. candles and put one under a warmer while burning the other the traditional way. I used them at the same time in 2 hour sessions, twice a week. My office smelled incredible with all of the double “burning”. After about a month, the traditional candle was half empty (or half full, if that’s your thing). The candle warmer candle was maybe 10% gone, if that.
If you want to get more use out of your candles and save money, invest in a warmer.
The scent fills the room faster when you use a candle warmer.
With traditional burning, you typically have to wait at least half an hour to get a decent sized melt pool. With a candle warmer, you’ll see the entire surface of the candle start to melt within 10-15 minutes. You can make this happen faster by turning up the intensity of the bulb.
You can control the intensity of the scent with a candle warmer.
Most candle warmers allow you to adjust either the height of the lamp or the intensity of the light bulb.
To boost the scent throw, you can turn up the intensity of the bulb or move the lamp closer to the surface of the candle. For a lighter throw, you can move the lamp away or dim the bulb.
This has been a game changer for me. I no longer worry about buying candles with poor scent throw because I can use my warmer on the highest setting to fix it.
You can avoid soot and smoke with a candle warmer.
When one of my candles is smoking excessively or throwing a lot of soot, I immediately transfer it to a warmer. Soot can stain your candle jar but it can also get on walls, furniture, and other surfaces. You can avoid this completely by using a warmer.
You can skip wick trimming.
Let’s be real, you might not be a regular wick trimmer anyway. I’m super militant about keeping my wicks trimmed because it’s better for your candles, but I know that a lot of people skip this step. With a candle warmer, you don’t have to worry about the length of the wick. Just turn it on and enjoy.
You can even out tunneling with a candle warmer.
Tunneling happens when the center of the candle melts, but the edges do not. It happens for one of two reasons – either you didn’t let your candle burn long enough (until the melt pool reaches the edge of the container) OR the candlemaker used a wick that was too small. If you don’t fix it, the candle will continue to burn a tunnel all the way to the bottom and you’ll be left with a lot of wasted wax on the edges.
You can fix tunneling with the “tin foil trick”: building an aluminum foil teepee around the candle that will trap the heat in a way that evens out the surface OR you can just pop the candle under a warmer.
This is what tunneling looks like before and after I fixed this L’or de Seraphine candle:
You can fix lots of candle issues with a candle warmer.
I’ve already talked about tunneling, but warmers also good for fixing other issues with bad candles:
- Have you ever had a candle that either won’t light or keeps extinguishing itself because the wick is too short? Use a candle warmer.
- Have you ever opened up a candle with an off-center wick? Poor wick placement doesn’t matter when you use a candle warmer.
- Is your candle starting to throw too much soot? Wipe the soot off with a paper towel and then use a warmer.
- Are you at the bottom of a candle that only has a tiny bit of wax left? Use a warmer to melt the last bit of wax then soak it up with a paper towel. Wipe the jar down with a little bit of isopropyl alcohol. Cleaning out candle jars is much easier with a warmer.
Candle warmers are good for people who want to “burn” a candle in shorter increments.
Ideally, you shouldn’t blow out a candle until the melted wax (called the “melt pool”) reaches the edge of the candle container. If you blow it out too soon, the candle will start to tunnel.
For some candles, this can mean burning for 2+ hours. Sometimes, I just want 30 minutes of fragrance right before bed. With a candle warmer, you can turn the lamp off whenever you want without worrying about an uneven burn.
Where to buy a candle warmer
Pro tip: get a candle warmer. Any candle warmer. This post is brand agnostic – here are some places to buy them:
If you’re looking for specific recommendations, here are the 3 warmers I use and love. I ordered them from Amazon:
- White candle warmer lamp with wooden base: This one lives in my home office. You can’t adjust the height, but you can adjust the brightness of the bulb. I can’t use this one for taller candles which is why I purchased this next candle warmer.
- Amber glass lampshade candle warmer: This is the one we use in our living room. The height is adjustable so I love using this it for some of my taller candles.
- Wooden candle warmer lamp: I move this one around depending on where I want to use it. I love the shape. The height is not adjustable, but I have a ton of small candles that are perfect for this warmer.
Things to consider before you buy a candle warmer
If I’ve convinced you, here are some things to note before you buy a candle warmer:
- Decide if you want a top down or bottom up warmer. Top vs bottom just refers to where the heat source is located. I prefer top down warmers because they tend to have more interesting designs, but there are also plenty of warmers with a heat plate on the bottom.
- They don’t all have adjustable height settings so keep that in mind if you tend to burn taller candles.
- Get one with an automatic timer! It’s handy to be able to set it and forget it.
- Get one with adjustable brightness settings so that you can control the intensity of the fragrance.
- When you use a warmer, the wax doesn’t evaporate the same way it does with burning. The top layer of the candle will repeatedly be melted and will gradually lose its scent over time so you’ll want to remove a bit of this wax every few uses. I like to dip a cotton ball in the melted wax after a session under the warmer to soak up some of this top layer. This will remove some of the wax that has lost its fragrance and ensure that I keep getting the most out of the candle.
And that’s it. Happy warming!
