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Candle Burn Time Calculator

Estimate how many hours your candle will burn based on its wax weight and burn rate.

Result

40.0 h
10

How it is calculated

Burn time is the wax you have divided by how fast it burns: hours = wax weight (g) ÷ burn rate (g/h). The tool also divides the total by 4 hours and rounds down to get the number of full four-hour sessions: sessions = ⌊ hours ÷ 4 ⌋. Total time is shown with one decimal. The burn rate is the number you must supply and depends on wick size, wax type and drafts; to measure it, weigh the candle, burn it for a known time and divide the lost grams by the hours. Both inputs must be above zero.

Worked example

A 200 g candle that burns 5 g per hour. Total = 200 ÷ 5 = 40.0 h. Sessions of 4 hours = 40 ÷ 4 = 10 full sessions, so the candle lasts ten evenings if you burn it four hours at a time.

Try this example →

Common mistakes

  • Entering the weight of the whole candle including the glass jar; only the wax counts.
  • Using a burn rate per minute or in ounces while the wax is in grams.
  • Taking a manufacturer's rate as fixed; drafts, a long wick or the first burn of a new candle change it.
  • Burning for short sessions of under about an hour; the extra wasted wax and tunnelling make real life shorter than the figure.
  • Reading the session count as the exact number of nights when sessions of other lengths are planned; it is only based on 4 hours.

About this calculator

Total burn time is estimated as wax weight ÷ burn rate (grams per hour), where burn rate depends mainly on wick size and wax type — a thicker wick or softer wax (like soy or paraffin blends) melts and consumes wax faster than a thin wick in a harder wax such as beeswax.

Candle makers use this to label expected burn time on a new product and to compare how a wick change affects it before a full burn test, while shoppers and hobbyists use it to estimate how long a candle will actually last based on its listed wax weight, since burn rate — not just size — is what really determines candle life.

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