Gently filling your home with beautiful aromas is a perfect way to set the mood. It could help you relax in the evenings or provide a backdrop while you entertain.
For years, most people would rely on scented candles or incense sticks. But this can be expensive and burn out quickly. This is why wax warmers have become so popular.
You can melt scented wax at the touch of a button and waste much less compared to a candle burner. The only thing you need to keep an eye on is the power consumption.
Below we will discuss and test wax warmer wattage, explain how to work it out for yourself, and calculate the total electricity required.
How Many Watts is a Wax Warmer?
The average wax warmer uses between 10 and 30 watts.
The exact number depends on the size and model of your wax warmer. For example, a small warmer with an electric heating element draws as little as 10W, while lightbulb wax warmers draw 30W or more.
These are all very low powered devices so you can run them for long periods of time. Generally, it uses a lightbulb to generate heat and gently melt wax. The power of the light bulb determines how many watts you use. Usually, these bulb power ranges between 20W and 40W.
How to Find Out Your Wax Warmer Wattage
There’s 3 ways you can work out the wattage of a wax warmer.
- Check Product Specification
The quickest way is to look at the wax warmer specification. The watts (W) is usually written on a sticker on the base of the appliance. If not, you can check the user manual or the manufacturer’s website for technical details.
- Use a Wattmeter
A wattmeter is brilliant for getting a live wattage reading and tracking total energy usage of any appliance. You can plug it into your wax warmer to get instant information.
I used one to test my wax warmer which gave a live reading of 9.9W.
- Wattage Formula or Calculator
If you know the amperage and voltage of your wax warmer you can use this to find the maximum watt rating. Simply use the formula Amps x Volts = Watts. Or you can head over to the ‘Watt Calculator’ to work this out.
Wax Warmer Wattage Examples
Let’s take a look at specific examples of how many watts a wax warmer draws. Below is a collection of modern wax warmers with their listed power ratings.
| Wax Warmer Model | Power Rating (Watts) |
| mocosa Wax Melt Warmer | 13 |
| PALANCHY Wax Melt Warmer | 17 |
| CANDLE WARMERS ETC 2-in-1 | 20 |
| Bobolyn Ceramic Electric Wax Melt Warmer | 25 |
| SALKING Electric Wax Warmer | 40 |
| ARVIDSSON Electric Wax Melt Warmer | 45 |
| STAR MOON Scent Warmer | 25 |
| TT & MM Scentsy Warmer Wax Melt Warmer | 24 |
As you can see, the power ratings vary between different wax warmers. So you should take the time to check your own appliance.
How Much Electricity Does a Wax Warmer Use?
You can use wax warmer wattage to work out how much electricity it uses. Plus this can be useful in understanding how much it costs to run your wax warmer.
A watt (W) is a measurement of power at a single point in time. A watt-hour (Wh) is the total amount of electricity used in an hour. For example, a wax warmer drawing 25W would use 25Wh when running for an hour.
Happily, electricity bills are recorded in kilowatt-hours (kWh). A kilowatt is simply 1000 watts. So a 25W wax warmer running for 1 hour uses 0.025kWh.
In reality, you use a wax warmer for 2 hours a day. This means a wax warmer uses about 50Wh or 0.05kWh electricity a day. That’s 1.5kWh a month and 18.25kWh a year.
That’s a rough electricity cost of $0.22 a month or $2.73 a year to melt wax for 2 hours every day.
Using a Wax Warmer Off-Grid
If you’re planning to use your wax warmer in an off-grid situation like a power outage or RV, the information above is useful. You can check if your electrical equipment offers enough power and run time.
You can either use a power inverter, portable power station, or generator to generate AC electricity.
To make sure everything runs smoothly you should check two things on this equipment – wattage capacity and total energy capacity.
Your power source, like an inverter, should have a wattage capacity of at least 20% more than your wax warmer. This ensures it will be able to deliver enough power as they are never 100% efficient.
Secondly, you need to ensure your energy source, like a battery, has enough energy to run the wax warmer for the required amount of time. As we already know, it will use about 25Wh electricity every hour. This is the equivalent to 2.08Ah on a 12V battery.
How Many Watts Does a Wax Warmer Use Summary
I hope you now have a clear understanding of how many watts a wax warmer uses.
The good news is that these are very low powered devices. You’ll barely notice any difference in your electricity consumption which makes them more efficient than a candle. In addition, they are much safer without the need for a naked flame! You could even run one in your RV during your evening stops.
