The Balneaves Complete Guide to Electric Wax Burners
Balneaves Wax Melts sell a variety of electric wax burners online and we have produced this guide to give you an overview of the types of warmers that are available.
What is an electric wax burner?
Electric burners are an alternative to tealight burners and use a heat source powered by electricity rather than the heat from the flame of a tealight to melt wax.
You plug in an electric burner as you would a lamp or household appliance. Many warmers are touch sensitive which means they can be turned on or off by touching the lamp. Some versions use a toggle switch that you use to turn the burner on or off.
An electric warmer usually comes with a detachable glass dish / wax melt cup which is used to hold the wax melt.
Most electric burners use a small halogen bulb to melt the wax. Some models use hot plates instead of bulbs and energy saving LED models are also becoming more popular.
How does an electric wax burner work with a small halogen lightbulb?
The traditional electric burner is heated by a small halogen lightbulb that sits at the bottom of the burner. At the top is a round opening on top of which sits the detachable glass dish holding the wax melt.
An electric warmer works by the small halogen lightbulb getting very warm and the heat from the lightbulb collecting within the burner’s enclosed design. The heat then rises towards the detachable glass dish at the top. This process heats the wax within the glass dish which then melts and releases the scent into the air.
As well as creating heat to melt the wax, the small halogen lightbulb within the burner emits light. There are many designs used to make attractive electric burners for the home that create fabulous lighting effects.
How does an electric warmer work with a hot plate?
A more recent edition of the electric warmer uses a hot plate for heat. These types of burners use hot plates and come with detachable glass dishes or wax melt cups. The detachable glass dish / wax melt cup sits directly over the hot plate within the burner which heats up and melts the wax within the dish.
Electric burners with hot plates are not confined to the traditional globe / circular design, because the detachable dish / wax melt cup sits directly over the hot plate. This means it is not as reliant on heat travelling so far upwards within the burner. Electric warmers with hot plates can include also lighting from LED-lightbulbs which do not produce any additional heat, but can create great effects such as colour changes.
LED models are expected to be more prominent in the near future due to the gradual phasing out of halogen bulbs. We will be stocking more LED burners as they become available.