Why Some Candles Burn Faster Than Others

A candle burns faster when more wax is being turned into a melt pool and then into vapour. Big wick, wide jar, long untrimmed wick, draught feeding the flame — all of that eats hours. Soft wax can seem quicker than a hard paraffin because the pool forms more readily. That is not always a swindle. A slow candle that never pools is just a stick in a jar.

What actually shortens a burn

• Wick too large, or never trimmed.
• Draughts. Extra oxygen, extra melt.
• Very wide vessels. More surface, more fuel per hour, even if the label looks impressive.
• Burning until the tab, every time, instead of stopping at a centimetre.

Hours on a box are a lab number in still air. Your porch is not a lab. Trim, still room, proper pool, then you will get what we intended from Cairngorms or whoever is on the lid. Care.