An oil burner is one of the best value things we sell and one of the most likely to end up in a cupboard. The reason is simple. On its own it is half a product, and the half that is missing is not obvious until it arrives.
What you actually need
| Why | Roughly | |
|---|---|---|
| The burner | Holds the tealight and the dish | £6.99 to £10.99 |
| Tealights | Four hours each, and you will get through them faster than you think | A few pounds for a bag of 50 |
| Wax melts or fragrance oil | The actual scent | Varies |
| Somewhere heatproof to stand it | A tile, a coaster or a slate mat | Often something you already own |
People buy the burner, discover they have no tealights on a Sunday evening, and the burner goes in a drawer. That is the whole failure mode.
Oil or wax melts
Both work and they behave differently enough that the choice matters.
Fragrance oil is used a few drops at a time in water. The water does real work, because it moderates the temperature and evaporates first, so the oil is never heated alone. The drawback is that water evaporates, and a dish that runs dry scorches the oil immediately. That burnt smell is the single most common complaint about oil burners and it is almost always this.
Wax melts carry the fragrance in the wax and need no water. They last considerably longer per use, they do not run dry in the same way, and the spent wax lifts out cleanly. For most households they are the more forgiving option.
If you are buying a burner as a gift, send melts with it rather than oil. It removes the way it most commonly goes wrong.
How much to use
Less than instinct suggests. A few drops of oil in a dish of water, or one cube of a melt.
More wax does not produce more fragrance at any given moment, because the scent released depends on the surface area of the melted pool and its temperature rather than the depth beneath it. Overfilling gives you the same smell for longer with a greater risk of overflow.
Which burner to buy
The difference between our shapes is bowl depth and the height above the flame, and both decide whether it scorches.
The classic Buddha oil burners at £6.99 come in white, black, blue, ivory and mint and rose and teal.
The square burners at £8.99 have a deeper dish, which is more forgiving. The sitting Buddha burners at £10.99 are the most sculptural and the largest.
Our guide to choosing a burner that does not scorch covers the mechanism.
The tealight question
Worth knowing because it affects the result. A standard four hour tealight is what these are designed around. Eight hour tealights burn hotter and taller, which brings the flame closer to the dish and increases the risk of scorching.
If your burner runs hot, a standard tealight in a metal cup rather than a clear one also helps slightly, because the metal reflects less heat upward.
Where to put it
Somewhere heatproof and stable, out of reach of children and pets, away from curtains and anything overhanging. Let it cool fully before moving it, because ceramic holds heat considerably longer than it looks.
Height matters for the scent. A burner at low level sends fragrance up past everyone rather than through the room, so a side table beats a floor.
Cleaning between scents
Residue from a strong scent mixes with the next melt and produces something neither of you chose. Wipe the dish with kitchen paper while it is still slightly warm, then a little washing up liquid on a cloth if the previous fragrance was heavy.
For hardened wax, the freezer for an hour is the tidiest method. Wax contracts more than ceramic and the disc lifts out whole with light pressure.
Getting the last of a candle
A genuinely useful habit. When a container candle is finished, with about a centimetre of wax left that you should not burn, warm the jar in a bowl of hot water, lift the wax out and use it as a melt.
That recovers the last of an expensive fragrance and it costs nothing. Our guide to why candles tunnel covers getting the most from a candle before that point.
Questions people ask
What do I need with an oil burner?
Tealights, wax melts or fragrance oil, and something heatproof to stand it on. Buying the burner alone is why most end up in a cupboard.
Should I use oil or wax melts?
Melts are more forgiving, since they do not run dry the way oil in water does. If you are giving a burner as a gift, send melts with it.
Why does my burner smell burnt?
The dish ran dry, or the burner is too shallow so the fragrance overheated and broke down rather than evaporating. Deeper dishes are safer.
How much wax should I use?
One cube. More does not increase the fragrance at any moment, because release depends on the surface area of the pool rather than the depth.
Do I need special tealights?
Standard four hour tealights are what these are designed around. Eight hour ones burn hotter and taller and increase the risk of scorching.
