How Long Does a Candle Burn? 7.1 oz vs 10.6 oz

A 7.1 oz (200g) soy candle burns for about 35 hours. A 10.6 oz (300g) soy candle burns for about 50. As a rule of thumb, soy wax gives roughly 5 hours of burn time per ounce, and paraffin gives about 3.5. Actual burn time varies with wick trimming, draughts and session length — an untrimmed wick in a draughty room can cut the total by 20%.

Burn time is the only spec on a candle jar you can turn into a real comparison. Price on its own tells you nothing; price divided by hours tells you what an evening actually costs. Most brands don't state burn time at all, which is itself informative — it usually means nobody tested it.

Burn time by candle size

Size	Weight	Typical soy burn time	Evenings (3 hrs each)
Votive	2 oz / 57g	10–12 hours	3–4
Small jar	4 oz / 113g	20–25 hours	7–8
Medium jar	7.1 oz / 200g	~35 hours	~12
Large jar	10.6 oz / 300g	~50 hours	~17
Three-wick	14–16 oz / 400–450g	45–60 hours	15–20

Note the three-wick line. Three wicks consume roughly three times the wax per hour, so a much larger candle often gives no more total hours than a single-wick 10.6 oz — it just fills a bigger room faster. If you're buying on hours, single-wick is the more efficient format.

The cost-per-hour arithmetic

Our two sizes, at current pricing:

• 7.1 oz — $26.75 ÷ 35 hours = $0.76 per hour
• 10.6 oz — $29.45 ÷ 50 hours = $0.59 per hour

The large jar costs $2.70 more and gives you 15 extra hours — about 22% cheaper per hour, or five more evenings. That's the whole case for buying up a size, and it's the same shape of calculation you should run on anything you're comparing us against. A $45 candle at 40 hours is $1.13 an hour; the number on the price tag is not the number that matters.

What actually changes your burn time

The stated hours assume the candle is burned properly. Four things erode them:

Wick length

An untrimmed wick makes a tall flame, and a tall flame consumes more wax per hour while producing soot. Trimming to 6mm before every burn is the single highest-return habit in candle care — it can be worth several hours across the life of a jar.

Draughts

Moving air makes the flame flicker and flare, which burns wax faster and unevenly. A candle by an open window can lose 15–20% of its rated life.

Sessions that are too short

Short burns cause tunneling, which strands wax against the glass permanently. A badly tunneled 10.6 oz jar can leave 30–40% of its wax unburnt — losing you 15–20 hours you paid for. If that's already happened, it's usually fixable.

Sessions that are too long

Past about four hours, carbon builds up on the wick, the flame grows, and consumption accelerates. Put it out, let it cool, trim, relight.

Which size for which room

7.1 oz / 35 hours — bedrooms, bathrooms, home offices, desks. Rooms up to roughly 150 sq ft. Also the right size for trying a scent you haven't burned before, and the right size to gift.

10.6 oz / 50 hours — living rooms, dining rooms, open-plan spaces, entrances. Rooms of roughly 200–400 sq ft. The right size for the scent you already know you want, and better value per hour.

Scent structure matters here too. Base-heavy woody scents like Amber & Oud and Earth & Velvet fill a large room efficiently; lighter, fresher scents like Forest Path work better close to you in a smaller space. There's more on that in fragrance notes explained.

How to get every hour you paid for

1. First burn: two to four hours, until the melt pool reaches the glass all the way round.
2. Trim the wick to 6mm before every burn. Every one.
3. Burn in sessions of two to four hours, never longer.
4. Keep it away from vents, fans and open windows.
5. Stop when about 10mm of wax remains — below that the glass gets too hot.
6. Lid on when it's out. It keeps dust off the surface and slows the cold-throw fade.

Frequently asked questions

How long does a 7 oz candle burn?

A 7.1 oz (200g) soy candle burns for about 35 hours, which is roughly twelve three-hour evenings. Paraffin at the same weight typically gives around 25 hours. Actual time depends on wick trimming, draughts and session length.

How long does a 10 oz candle burn?

A 10.6 oz (300g) soy candle burns for about 50 hours, or roughly seventeen three-hour evenings. That's about 15 hours more than a 7.1 oz jar, at a lower cost per hour.

How do you calculate candle burn time?

Soy wax gives approximately 5 hours of burn time per ounce and paraffin about 3.5, for a single-wick candle. Multiply the net weight in ounces by that figure. Divide the price by the result to get cost per hour, which is the only fair way to compare candles at different sizes.

Does a bigger candle always burn longer?

No. Multi-wick candles consume wax roughly in proportion to the number of wicks, so a 14 oz three-wick candle can give no more total hours than a 10.6 oz single-wick. Larger multi-wick candles scent bigger rooms faster, but they are not more hours per ounce.

Why is my candle burning faster than the stated time?

The most common causes are an untrimmed wick, which raises the flame and increases wax consumption, and a draught from a vent, fan or open window. Burning for longer than four hours at a time also accelerates consumption as carbon builds on the wick.

---

Every Thermelis jar states its burn time: 7.1 oz for about 35 hours, 10.6 oz for about 50. Hand-poured 100% soy wax, matte black glass. See the collection.