mizbizzyb Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 okay....I would love to hear your opinions and possibly stand to be corrected (me that is )Now if Suzy the candlemaker in a warmer climate and wicks a candle with lets say 51z to get a great burn.And George the candlemaker lives in a cooler climate and wicks the same candle combo as so and so but has to wick up to get a great burnNow.....If Suzy had a customer from a cooler climate buy a candle wouldn't it burn different for the customer than it did for her?The same with George...if they shipped a candle to a customer in a warmer climate...wouldn't their candle burn different for the customer than it did for him?Bottom line question/statement is......We tend to bash other candle companies for the way their candles burn...if the climate tends to have an effect on the way the candle is made and burned who's to say that is not what we may be experiencing affects with some of the big dogs. Could that be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meg_10 Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 I have pondered on this question while back. and decided to not think about it anymore, cause really, how do you answer that question?Say I live in warmer climate, sell my candle to customer in Alaskawhere it's cold in winter or cooler in summer, will it burn good? plus they're in higher altitude than we are, and I know altitude plays with the burns to.I'd love to hear others opinions on this subject.Meg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racolvin Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 precisely the kind of question that makes me focus my marketing on my local geographic area I'll sell to outsiders and ship, but my focus is local clients. My personal goal is to get to where I sell 1k candles/month in a local area of about 350k population. If I can hit that, I'll just settle in and be done - not really interested in getting bigger than that and then I don't have to worry about how my candles burn in Alaska Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SliverOfWax Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 Yes, and I agree with Meg. You can worry yourself right out of the business.I keep my house much warmer in the summer than in winter. My candles burn slightly differently with the seasons. Perhaps not differently enough for anyone but me to notice. However, some of those really, really hard to wick scents can make it a tough job of wick testing.Maybe that's why companies like Y stick clothesline cord in their candles. Those suckers will burn anywhere! And they still tunnel like crazy. Makes ya wonder who they're making those things for. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SatinDucky Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 My thoughts are.... if candles in Alaska burn different than ones in Florida, then all candles in that area (barring quality, etc) should burn about the same so the customer wouldn't expect it to be different.I don't worry about climate during test burning. There are too many variables that you have no control over. Whether winter or summer, north or south, the differences inside a building where the customer burns it will vary greatly. I keep my home about 5* warmer than my mother next door in any season. The only time I fight with the climate is in making the candle. Like summer humidity creating fingernails or winter temps making the metal mold so cold the rustic effect peels off inside as I pour.As for "big dogs" and such... If that were the case, wouldn't all candles by them be that way? At the same time, if it were a climate difference, wouldn't all equivalent candles that suzy or george burn give the same results? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oh-MYo Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 Interesting question. I would think that although climate may affect how a candle will burn, that the differences cant really be that significant. The candle flame itself would be what determines the average temp of the candle/melt pool. And there really are so many different ways to burn a candle, i.e. trimming, burn times etc. Now altitude---I can see that being an issue---which anyone who burns candles in a higher altitude would have adjusted their burning.....techniques already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella1952 Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 I think this is more critical with veggie waxes than it is with paraffin, however either could be affected depending on how extreme the temperatures are. Since I make only veggie wax-based candles, I cannot speak to specifics of paraffin candles, but I have made a point to study this with my candles. Veggie waxes, particularly soy-based ones, are quite sensitive to temperature during manufacturing (watch the posts during seasonal changes!). They are also sensitive to temps outside the "normal" range when burning. I consider "normal" to be between 65°F and 80°F.For example: I live in the gulf south. Our winters are mild and our summers are brutally hot. I burn candles on my porch nearly all year round. When temperatures dip much below 65°, the candles do not burn the same. They are more likely to tunnel (depending upon how much cooler it is than 65°) and set up badly after extinguishing (air pockets and cracking of the tops). I do not even bother to burn palm wax candles at temps much less than 65°. Because it is generally pretty warm down here, I adjust my wintertime soy-based candle formula during January & February, our coldest months. Because our late spring and summers and early fall are all very hot, I adjust my formula to be a little harder than "normal" to compensate for the extreme high temperatures.Most folks burn candles inside their homes where the temps are usually climate-controlled and range from 65°F - 80°F - that's the range I shoot for. I try to be mindful of the fact that my candles have to travel in hot temperatures (often 90°+) from where they are purchased to where they are burned and caution customers NOT to leave these in their car any longer than they would leave a kid or a dog!I sell my candles locally. The only ones that are leaving the southeast are ones sent to relatives in the northwest and northeast. I warn them about the ideal burning temperature range. Haven't heard any complaints yet.This is a common sense issue. If the ambient air temperature is very cool or very warm, it WILL affect how easily the wax burns, the size of the melt pool and the throw. A flame puts off only so much heat! If the ambient air temperature is 40° - guess what! It's harder for that little flame to heat that COLDER wax and keep it warm enough to maintain a melt pool with a high enough temperature to throw well. Conversely, when the temps are hovering around 100°, the candle will be gobbled up more quickly by the flame as it doesn't have to work nearly as hard to warm the wax.Even recognizing this, I don't lose any sleep over it. I inform customers about the ideal burning and storage temperatures for my candles. Beyond that, it's up to them to follow those guidelines for best results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meg_10 Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 Most folks burn candles inside their homes where the temps are usually climate-controlled and range from 65°F - 80°F - AS QUOTED BY STELLA.....This was my conclusion when I pondered on this. So far no complaints either. Meg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam W Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 I keep my house much warmer in the summer than in winter. My candles burn slightly differently with the seasons. Perhaps not differently enough for anyone but me to notice. However, some of those really, really hard to wick scents can make it a tough job of wick testing.Same here. I'm keeping my thermostate lower this winter than last year due to higher energy prices and I'm getting a very noticable difference in the burn of my paraffin pillars. On some, wicking up just causes tunneling:( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mizbizzyb Posted February 17, 2008 Author Share Posted February 17, 2008 Interesting replies...thx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PurpleHippie Posted February 17, 2008 Share Posted February 17, 2008 I shared my candles with several friends that live a much colder climate and higher altitude than mine. They told me the wicks tunnel. I still had several in the same scent from the same batch. I burned 2 and they burned prefect. I wicked up and sent them a few to test. They reported that they worked fine. I was using a soy/paraffin blend. I test burn my candles where I think the customer is more likely to use them, indoors with the air conditioning or heat on so I can't imagine that their homes had that much of a temperature difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILikeWaxMelts Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 This is very interesting... I Don't make candles, I just buy a alot of'em LOL. I read this board to be an informed candle buyer LOL...I'm in Michigan and our high was 49ºF for today. we kept the heat at 70ºFBought a pillar at walmart a while a go and it did nothing but tunnel, I think it was under wicked because the wax it's made of is hard as a rock LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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