Burn Time Calculations

A good quality candle has many features. Good scent throw, nice ambiance and of course, value for money.

Here we show you two methods of how to calculate the burn time of a candle you have made.

Being able to extend the life of your candle adds value to a customers purchase.

We have a printout for your reference and a You Tube video as well!

What is burn time?	“The amount of time it will it take to burn off all the wax in the jar (or pillar) when used during normal circumstances.”
Burn time is influenced by several factors:	type of wax size of the jar size of wick fragrance used colorant used user behaviour (perhaps the most important) did they follow burn instructions? is it in a drafty location?
Tips when doing a test burn.	let your candle cure for at least 48 hours burn for 1 hour for each inch of diameter
SLOW Method involves burning the candle as would a consumer - one burn at a time until no wax is left!	Burn the candle for an appropriate amount of time (eg. 1 hour for every 1" of width). Let the wax set after extinguishing for several hours or overnight. Repeat Step 1 & 2 until all wax is used Keep track of the total number of hours burned. How long did the candle burn? Slow method but accurate!
QUICKER Method! Burn once, measure how much wax was used and then calculate based on that data an estimate of how long it would last!	How much does the wax weigh in your candle? Light the candle and let burn for 1 hour for every 1" of width to get a proper melt pool Blow out the candle Weigh the remaining wax in the jar Calculate the difference from before and after burning Divide by the number of hours burned Divide this number into the original weight
Step by Step	Put an empty jar on a scale and tare to zero. Weigh the filled jar. We only want to know how much the wax weighs. We are trying to find out the ratio of how much wax is burned. If we include the jar weight our calculations will be out of sync.
Burn the candle for the appropriate number of hours. One hour for each inch of diameter
Weigh after burning	Again, tare the scale with an empty jar and now weigh the burned candle. We want to know how much wax is left.
How much wax did you use?	Wax Before - Wax After = Wax Used In our case we used a 270ml jar that comes with our Starter Kits. Wax before burning: 214 grams Wax after burning: 201 grams Wax Used: 214-201 = 13 grams
Find how much wax was used in one hour	Since the wax used was: 13gms in 2.5 hours (214gms-201gms) Calculate what the consumption would be for one hour: 13gms/2.5hrs = 5.2gms per hour Divide the original weight (214gms) by our rate per hour: 214gms / 5.2 gms per hour = 41.2 hours Label your candle as “approximately 40 hours”
Wick Size	Since wick size is a factor in burn time, if we increase the wick size it should reduce the burn time as more wax would be used in the burning of this candle. Therefore, if we downsized the wick, less wax would be used. The important part though is to maintain: an appropriate flame height ensure we are getting a great melt pool and that the scent throw is good
Based on a wick chart you can look to see what is the next smallest wick which might help increase your burn time. For example, going down from an HTP105 to an HTP104 may improve your burn time.