Read Below for Answers to the Most Frequent Questions we get about Church Oil Candles
 

Whether you call them oil candles, liquid candles or fuel candles, they are the same thing-candles that burn a liquid.

 

The Two Basic Types of Church Oil Candles

Oil Candle Shells -"shells" use drop-in canisters. Canisters are available either prefilled (disposable)or with a screw- off top so they can be refilled.

Refillable Oil Candles- come with screw-off brass tops and oil is poured directly in the candle.


Oil Candle Shells

Here is our 2" diameter oil candle shell shown with the metal or clear pvc canister.         
The candle on the right has the optional follower (top) and socket. 

Below is a Refillable Oil Candle with the Screw off Brass Top

       

 

Oil Candle Shells

• Shells can be easily refilled when they are in the sanctuary, on the candlesticks. There's no need to remove the candles and take them back to the sacristy to fill them with the oil. Simply remove the empty canister from the candle, drop in a new one and you're ready to go.

Here is our 3-1/2"" diameter oil candle shell shown with the 70 hour metal or clear pvc canister.

About the Cannisters

• Refillable canisters are made of metal and have a screw off brass top with a replaceable wick.
• Prefilled disposable canisters are offered in either clear see-through PVC plastic, so you can see how much oil is left, or in metal disposable Canisters.

We have three sizes of canisters available: 25 hour, 45 hour, and 70 hour.

• 25 hour fits the 1-7/8 and 2 inch diameter shells
• 45 hour canister fits the 2 5/8 inch diameter shells
• 70 hour canister fits the 3 1/2 inch and larger diameter shells

Our standard canisters (25hr, 45hr, 70 hr, 80hr) are all the same height: (5-1/4")

 regardless of whether they are refillable or disposable
 regardless of the number of hours of burn time
 regardless of the candle height...

...because the chamber or reservoir in the top of the candle is the same depth, regardless of how tall the candle is.

We have TALL canisters available in the 30,60 and 90 hour sizes which are 6-1/2" tall. If you plan on using these with Lux Mundi Brand candles, please let us know as your candles will need to be drilled out an extra inch to accomodate the taller cartridge.

Oil Candle Appearance

• Our liquid paraffin oil candles are handcrafted of quality nylon, look just like real beeswax candles and are practically indestructible.
• Oil candle color is similar to a 51% Beeswax Candle
• Refillable candles come complete with a satin or high polish brass follower and wick.
• Candle Shells are just the nylon candle. You must get either disposable or refillable cannisters to work in the shells. Optional items include followers (decorative brass tops) and sockets (sockets attach to your candlestick and hold the candle, you probably already have sockets for your wax candles and they should work with the oil candles unless they are misformed, out of round or it takes effort to get your wax candles inserted.)

Beautiful Nylon Construction
Our candle shells are made of indestructible nylon. They can survive drops on concrete floors (we've skipped them across our warehouse floor) and look just like real beeswax candles.
The biggest difference is in the quality of the shell material (we use nylon which is super tough and looks exactly like a real 51% beeswax candle, this is not the cheap PVC look that some oil candles have) and the quality of the fuel (we use 99.96 percent liquid paraffin which is safe, clean, odorless and smokeless).

 

 

Attaching Oil Candles to your church's candlesticks.

Are all of our candle shells have a threaded hole in the bottom of them to enable them to screw directly to your candlestick. Several different size adapters are included to fit different size candlesticks. You can simply unscrew the socket on your candlestick and thread the candle directly in its place to the candlestick for a semi-permanent attachment.

 

You can also simply drop the oil candle into the candlestick socket, just as you would with a wax candle. Of course the oil candle needs to be slightly smaller your socket.

We sell sockets to fit our oil candles. You can replace your existing sockets with new Lux Mundi sockets if you want to use a different size oil candle than your existing sockets will accomodate.

Our candles can also be custom made to fit your existing sockets at no additional charge. This usually requires you to either measure your existing sockets with extreme precision, or to send us one of your sockets to use as a guide.

Do you need NEW Sockets or can you use your existing ones?


Candle Sockets or cups as they are sometimes called, are the round tube-shaped fittings on church candlesticks that hold the candles. If you are switching from wax candles to oil or liquid paraffin candles, then you already have sockets on your existing candlestick. The questions is, "Will the old sockets hold our new oil candles?"

The answer depends. If you are purchasing the same diameter oil candle as you were buying in wax variety, (i.e. replacing 1-1/2" diameter wax candles with 1-1/2" oil candles) then check to see if your wax candles slide in and out of the socket easily or if they bind and take a little bit of work to insert into the socket. If they go in and out easily, then most likely the oil candles will too.

If the wax candles bind or are difficult to insert in the socket, then check to see if there is a build-up of wax on the inner walls. You may need to scrape away the old wax, or take the socket off and submerse the socket (never the candlestick) in a pot of warm to hot water to loosen the wax. (You can also use a hairdryer.) Once the wax is soft, wipe away as much as you can and dry everything thouroughly. Now, try to insert the wax candles. If they slide in easily, it should be okay to order your new oil candles without sockets.

If you still have difficulty or it requires the slightest bit if effort to insert the wax candle, then you probably need to order new sockets to hold your oil candles.

How the Sockets Attach

In the picture below, note the new brass socket next to the oil candle. The socket has a threaded hole and comes with 2 adaptors in the most common size threading (3 are shown but we typically send two: 1/4-20 and 5/16-18, while the socket itself has a 3/8-16 threaded hole, so you have 3 options). Find the correct size adaptor for your candlestick and then simply screw the adaptor into the bottom of the socket. Your socket can now be screwed down on to your candlestick.


You can also screw your candles directly to your candlesticks / holders. See Below.



 

• Only use genuine, made in the USA LIQUID PARAFFIN with your Lux Mund oil candles.
• Liquid paraffin is not the same product as lamp oil found in many hadware or specialty stores.
• NEVER USE LAMP OIL OR KEROSENE with Church Oil Candles. You can cause respiratory problems for the congregation.
• Our Liquid Paraffin is designed to give clean, odorless and irritation free burning.

Refillable Oil Candle COMMON ANSWERS

• The follower serves as a top and unscrews so oil is added directly to the candle.
• The long lasting fiberglass wick is easily replaced and lasts for up to a year.
• Flame height can be adjusted by amount of wick pulled out of candle.
• Refillable candle burn time Varies by candle diameter not height
• All candles have the same depth oil resevoir regardless of the height of the actual candle

• Order the same size oil candle as your current wax candles, or slightly smaller.
• If your wax candles slide in and out of the sockets easily, then the oil candles should too.
• If your wax candles bind or are difficult to slide into the socket, then you will need to either order new sockets or have us peg the bottom of the candle. (You can send us your sockets and we will fit the candles at no charge or you can provide us exact measurements of the inside diameter and interior depth of your socket.

Burn Times

These are the approximate burn times for a full refillable oil candle. Note that candle height does not affect the burn time because the resevoir in the top of all candles is the same depth, regardless of the candle height.

Refillable Candle Burn Times (approximate)  All candles burn Burn 6 HRS/PER OZ. of oil. Burn time will thus be a function of the candle diameter.
  
CandleDiameter                    Burn time per fill (hrs)
7/8”                                            4.5
1.00”                                          4.5
1-1/8”                                         5.5
1-1/4”                                         7.5                             
1-1/2”                                         12.5
1-15/16”                                     18.5
2-1/4”                                         18.5
2-1/2”                                         22
3”                                               30

Burn Times for Candle Shells with Cannisters

• 25 hour- 1-7/8 and 2 inch diameter shells
• 45 hour - 2 5/8 inch diameter shells
• 70 hour -3 1/2 inch and larger diameter shells

Custom Liquid Paraffin Oil Candles

Lux Mundi™ offers a wide variety of candle diameters and heights. We can make candles to just about any size you require.

•  Refillable oil candles are Made in USA by Lux Mundi.
• You can order to fit your existing candlestick sockets or order our  exact-fit sockets, made to fit the candle you are purchasing.
• All candles are manufactured with a straight base. Tapered bases are available on request. 
• Custom modifcation is available to accomodate any size socket upon request.
• Custom heights and diameters also available. 
• Please email for information on custom ordering

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