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Types of Candles

Last updated on May 15, 2024
Traditional and flameless candles are an excellent way to add ambient lighting to your venue. Use this guide to explore and compare the various candles we offer so you can pick the style that best fits your needs.

Shop All Candles and Table Lamps

Use the following links to learn more about restaurant candles:

  1. Flameless Candles
  2. Wax Candles
  3. Types of Candle Wax
  4. Types of Candle Wicks
  5. Flameless Candle Parts
  6. Flameless Candles Cost Savings Calculator
  7. Real vs Flameless Candles

Flameless Candles

We offer a variety of flameless candles with durable, high-quality forms that are suitable for any occasion. Not only do they feature realistic designs for attractive aesthetics, but they also help to lower replacement costs over time. Unlike traditional candles, there's no real flame exposed, so you won't have to worry about it blowing out or raising safety concerns.

Restaurant Equipment

Pillars

These candles resist the heat of the summer and the brisk chill of autumn, allowing you to create ambiance with them on your patio space in any location all year round.

  • Produces life-like, flickering glows
  • Programmable, providing you with the freedom to turn them off and on at the same time every day without physically flipping the switches
  • Available in various sizes and colors to suit your needs
Restaurant Equipment

Tea Lights

These candles are perfect for adding accent lighting in dining areas.

  • Compact and transportable, making them great for off-premise catering
  • Long burn times, allowing you to use them at multiple events without needing to change the batteries
Restaurant Equipment

Votives

Also known as mini hurricane candles, votives create just the right amount of light to help you set the mood in any room.

  • Unscented, wax exteriors
  • Designed with realistic wicks to ensure an authentic candle appearance
  • Small to allow for easy transportation
  • Can last the length of multiple events before the batteries need to be changed
Restaurant Equipment

Rechargeable Candles

Rechargeable tea lights and votives eliminate the need for replacement batteries, minimizing excess costs even further than standard flameless candles. Not only are they both available in warm white and amber-colored flames, but they also come in sets to best suit your facility's needs. The bases can charge all your candles simultaneously and are stackable to save valuable counter space.

The tea lights are great for catered events and dining venues that want to lower costs while creating a warm and inviting atmosphere. Votives are slightly larger than the tea lights, making them more noticeable. They produce more light yet are still small enough to provide accent lighting for any reception or intimate dining area.

Wax Candles

We offer a variety of traditional, real-flame wax candles that allow you to customize the look and feel of your venue. With authentic, warm flames, they provide you with a way to set the mood in any room.

Restaurant Equipment

Birthday Candles

Though not a traditional candle used in restaurants, birthday candles are still relevant for restaurant operations. Many customers go out to eat to celebrate a birthday or other events, and adding birthday candles to their dessert adds an extra layer to your customer service. They can go on whole cakes, individual slices, or on top of ice cream sundaes to allow guests to make a wish on their special day.

  • Come in a range of fun, vibrant colors
  • Small and slender forms allow you to add as many or as few of them to a dessert as you desire
  • Offers a way to personalize customers' desserts on birthdays and anniversaries
Restaurant Equipment

Taper Candles

For high-end restaurants, taper candles add a unique ambiance to the dining experience. They're great for creating a classic, elegant facade in any room.

  • Commonly known as window candles
  • Long, slender constructions add dimension to tabletops
  • Require a candle holder to remain upright
Restaurant Equipment

Floating Candles

Floating candles create a unique visual effect that instantly increases the elegance of an atmosphere. Floating on water, the light of these round candles reflects off the surface to produce a warm glow. Place these candles in large bowls or vases of water to create eye-catching centerpieces.

  • Molded with large tops and small bottoms so they can float in water without tipping
  • Come in a variety of sizes and colors to match your particular theme and decor
  • Replace the water frequently to ensure it remains clear
Restaurant Equipment

Pillars

Pillars are a popular candle choice for both high-end restaurants and homey establishments. These candles can be used alone or combined with different sizes to create customized centerpieces.

  • Come in various diameters and heights
  • Tend to have ample burn times to help minimize replacement costs
  • Do not require a candle holder to remain upright
Restaurant Equipment

Tea Lights

Tea lights are small, flat candles in a metal or plastic cup that prevent the wax from spilling as it liquefies. Easy to transport, they work well in restaurants and for catering events. Surround a reception area or add them to dining tables to help set the mood at venues.

  • Compact and lightweight
  • Generally inexpensive
  • Can easily be transported to off-premise catered events
Restaurant Equipment

Votives

Often confused with tea lights, votives are versatile candles that enhance the ambiance of elegant and homely settings. Like tea lights, they're great for decorating the area surrounding dining areas and parties. However, they have varying heights and last longer than their counterparts.

  • Inexpensive and easy to use
  • Bigger than tea lights to provide longer burn times, making them better for long events
  • Often sold independently from a container
Restaurant Equipment

Fuel Cartridges

Fuel cartridges are filled with oil or paraffin lamp fuel to keep a steady, long-lasting burn. Light the wick, and the fuel cartridge will provide ample fuel to keep the candle burning for hours. For superior versatility, these candles can be added to candle lamps to meet your specific needs.

  • Allows you to use real flickering flames to add mood lighting to any room without the hassle of melting wax
  • Available in a range of shapes and sizes to fit compatible lighting displays
  • Offer anywhere from 8 to 100 hours of burn time depending on the size
Restaurant Equipment

Cartridge Candles

Just like regular taper candles, cartridge candles add a touch of sophistication to any area you place them. However, they don’t drip wax, eliminating clean-up and increasing the longevity of the candle.

  • Authentic taper candle look and design
  • Polished aluminum shells with inner-spring units feed real wax candles to the top
  • Allows the exterior to remain the same height, ensuring an attractive appearance
Restaurant Equipment

Wax-Filled Glass Candles

Wax-filled glass candles have great aesthetic value centered around the type of glass container. Mason jars are a common example of glass containers utilized for these candles. They are great additions to accent tables and dining areas, both indoors and outdoors.

  • Come in a jar or container to keep wax contained, so you never have to worry about damaging tables
  • Illuminates dining areas without the mess or cleanup of regular wax candles
  • Unique aesthetic appeal for outdoor establishments

Types of Candle Wax

There are many types of candle wax used to make candles.

Beeswax

Natural beeswax candles help clean the air while burning by reducing pollutants that cause asthma and allergies. They also burn cleaner and longer than paraffin and soy candles.

Paraffin Wax

Paraffin is the most commonly used candle material. Paraffin is a petroleum byproduct with a high melting point to ensure the strength and rigidity needed for votives and tall pillar candles. Many candle scents and dyes are formulated specifically for paraffin, so fragrances and colors are more potent and vibrant when used with this fuel.

Soy Wax

Soy candles don't contain pollutants and won't produce petrol-carbon soot like other materials. The wax also burns cooler than other candles, allowing it to last 30-50% longer.

Palm Wax

Thicker than other waxes, palm wax is more sustainable than paraffin and soy. Palm wax is created by the fatty acids separated from palm oil under extreme temperatures and pressures.

Liquid Wax

Made with oils like mineral or paraffin oil, these candles burn without producing smoke and soot. These candles are a clean alternative to traditional candles since you will not have to deal with any melted wax. Plus, they still look great even after hours of burning.

Bayberry Wax

Bayberry is a plant-based, eco-friendly wax that is combined with beeswax to create a more rigid candle. It has a refreshing, natural aroma and is usually used to form holiday candles.

Types of Candle Wicks

Wicks deliver the wax or oil to the flame, making them an integral part of candles. To get the most use from your traditional candles, properly manicure them by trimming their wicks every hour.

Cotton Wicks

These wicks burn very hot and produce more melted wax. As a result, any wax-filled glass candles use cotton wicks. An alternative to cotton wicks are paper core wicks.

Wood Wicks

Wooden wicks are environmentally-friendly and easy to light. When burned, they produce minimal carbon build-up and debris for a cleaner, more professional look. They create a soft crackling sound as they burn, adding to your warm, relaxing atmosphere. Plus, unlike cotton, paper, or metal-cored wicks, they do not require trimming for long-lasting use.

Metal Wicks

Typically consisting of zinc or tin cores, metal cored wicks are the most commonly used wick. They remain standing upright while the surrounding wax liquefies for a more professional appearance and are used when creating votive and pillar candles. Scientific studies have repeatedly shown both zinc and tin-core wicks to be safe to use since they're non-toxic. Another metal cored wick type, lead, is uncommon as it was banned from the United States in 2003 for its pollutant and health hazards.

Flameless Candle Parts

There are many different flameless candle parts that help keep your candles working properly.

Replacement Batteries

The lithium coin button battery allows you to replace the used batteries in your real wax votives, mini hurricanes, and plastic tea lights. We also sell a variety of regular batteries that work with your other flameless candles.

Replacement Power Adapter

A replacement power adapter replaces any worn or broken power adapters that first came with your rechargeable candle sets. It recharges your candles in only three hours, so you can quickly begin decorating your dining area or catered event.

Mirage Remote Control

Designed to work with Sterno Products Mirage flameless flickering LED candles, this remote control allows you to easily turn on your candles without having to program the timer or flip the switch. You can simply point the remote in the general location of your candles and push the green on button. When you're ready to turn them off at the end of the night, it's as easy as pointing the remote and hitting the red off button. It's perfect for flameless candles that are located in hard-to-reach areas.

Replacement Candles

Coming in either tea light or votive forms, these candles are direct replacements for your old or worn-out rechargeable candle sets. For convenience, you can purchase them in full replacement sets as well.

Flameless Candles Cost Savings Calculator

Enter in your real flame candle information to calculate your projected 5-year savings by switching to flameless candles!
Current tabletop lighting
# of Tables
Hours / Day
Days / Week
Savings: $0.00

Real vs Flameless Candles

Accent and table lighting may be one of the last things many establishments add, but it's definitely not something that should be overlooked. Take a moment to see the various differences and similarities between the two main types of candles to find out what could work best for you.



Infographic explaining the differences between real and flameless candles
The information provided on this website does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice. Please refer to our Content Policy for more details.

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