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I’m really excited to bring you the UCO Candle Lantern Review. I have had the pleasure to be playing with the UCO Candlelier Deluxe version of the UCO Candle Lantern. The more I use the candle lantern the more I really appreciate what it brings to my camping experience. Whether it’s a tent heater, warming up water or lighting my way, the UCO Candle lantern will always have a place with my camping equipment.
Whether you use it as a camping lantern to produce the best atmosphere or simply keep it stashed away as a source of emergency light and heat, this little candle lantern has something for you.
If you already know that the UCO Candle Lantern is something you have to have, click the link below to see the current price and more photos on Amazon!
I’ve been using and testing my candle lantern for a while now and want to show you my findings. I wasn’t sure it was necessary at first but it has grown on me significantly. I can’t wait to show you how it works and what it brings to the camping table!
UCO Candle Lantern Review Candlelier Deluxe
I’m going to cover a few different areas of interest with the UCO Candlelier candle lantern. I’m going to show you some really cool stuff. We will start by showing you how it works and what it does. Then we will jump into using it in a tent as a tent heater. I’ll warm up some water and show you how it performs there. Then at the end we will light it up and night and show you where it shines. Check out some quick specs below, then scroll down to check out the video and written review!
Keep in mind, this is the 3 candle more powerful candle lantern. They do make a single candle UCO Candle Lantern. The single candle version would be better for backpacking as it’s much more compact and lighter. I’ll show you both of them below for comparison.
Last update on 2024-03-14 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
UCO Candle Lantern Video Review
Before we get too deep into the written review, you can check out the video review I put together below. If you are like me, you would much rather watch the UCO Candle Lantern in action with a video. I think you will be able to get a good idea of whats going on by watching the video review below.
If you are more of a reader, then carry on!
How It Works
The UCO Candle Lanterns are made in the city of Seattle Washington, in the great USA. I love that they are made in the US as it’s getting harder and harder to find, especially with camping equipment. Let’s take a look at some quick specs then we will move more on to how it actually works.
- 60 Lumens of light
- 9 hour per candle (holds 3) Beeswax candles will last 12 hours
- 5,000 BTUS of heat.
- Weights 18 ounces
- Stands 8 inches tall and 4 inches wide
- No rust, made out of stainless steel and aluminum
Lighting A Candle
Twist off the external shell to expose the three candles. Simply light the candles and replace the outer shell. Twist the shell back into place until it clicks and the candle lantern is ready to go.
You will see the candle light stead from now being blocked from the breeze. It would take a pretty good gust of wind to actually blow the candles out as the shell does a great job of protecting the candles.
Changing A Candle
Twist off the candle holder and pull the candle out. The spring is now exposed. You simply put the candle back in the holder, place the metal candle holder into the slot and twist it back into place. It’s kind of confusing if you read it, watch the video above to get a better idea of what I’m talking about.
Where Does The Wax Go?
The wax actually just burns off. I have had mine burning for hours upon hours and have never had it leak wax by itself. I had one instance where I bumped it and some wax dripped down the side of one of the candle holders. I just waited until it cooled off and chipped the wax out of the inside of the lantern, no big deal.
I’ve seen some user reviews of people who have had some problems with the wax leaking out of the wax holder. I have not experienced this. I have hauled my UCO Candle Lantern around for many hours and have never had a problem other than the time I bumped it.
Candle Options
Another thing that stands out with the Candlelier is that you can put up to 3 different candle types in at once. You can mix and match your beeswax and citronella candles with the standard candles. Maybe you have a small bug problem, you can throw in a citronella and standard candle. Or maybe you have a bad bug problem and you can throw in all 3 citronella candles.
The ability to mix and match your different candle types is a pretty neat benefit of having 3 different candle holders. Check out the different candle types you can get below on Amazon.
Last update on 2024-03-15 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Features
The UCO Candle lantern has some really neat features. I’m going to talk about some of the features below then go into more detail on each. The candle lantern does have small burner which is good for heating up water or keeping a drink warm. It gets pretty hot so you don’t want to touch it but it could be helpful in keeping that coffee warm at night or in the morning. I tested this feature and will expand on that below.
Another great feature of the candle lantern is the amount of heat it puts out. You can use this as a source of heat to warm your hands up or even heat up a tent. Again, I spent some time with the UCO Candle Lantern in my tent and will show you below if it did the job at heating the tent up.
My favorite part of the UCO Candle Lantern is the warm light it puts out. The harsh LED lanterns have their place when you need a bright source of light, but they can’t match the atmosphere that the UCO Candle Lantern provides. The light it puts out is warm and friendly and doesn’t hurt your eyes like the bright LED battery powered lanterns. It gives you enough light to see peoples faces, play cards or games and even walking to the bathroom. But it doesn’t put out so much light that it drowns out the stars.
If you are 100% looking for a functional and convenient lantern, this might not be for you. It’s not really about that. I can promise that when you pull this light out on a camping trip it will be a show stopper. It will be a great conversation starter and people will want to flip the switch on their LED lanterns when they see the warm cozy light it produces.
The metal candle holders have slots in them so you can see how low the candle is. As the candle rises due to the spring you will be able to see what level your candle is at. The UCO Candlelier comes in a few different colors, Silver, Green, Red and Yellow.
You can also get a Neoprene case to put your candle lantern in to protect it. You can see it below. It will make sure you don’t scratch up the finish on the candle lantern if thrown in a bag or backpack.
Now that I have broken some of the features down a bit, let’s take a deeper dive into how it performed in the different areas.
Heating Up Water
I wanted to put the UCO Candlelier Deluxe candle lantern to the test. I grabbed my small backpacking pan and thew 1.5 cup of water in it. I figured 1.5 cup of water will be enough for a cup of coffee and should be enough for most of the dehydrated food packets.
Keep in mind, you can watch all this unfold in the video above. I started the timer and left he water to sit on the candle lantern. It ended up taking about 35-40 minutes for the water to be warm enough to make a cup of coffee. It didn’t boil but it was very hot, too hot for my finger to stay in the water.
I think if I had done just a cup of water, it probably would have boiled. The conclusion I came to is…
If you need to boil water, the candle lantern is not the most effective or efficient way to do it. I would suggest using your camp or backpacking stove. If you just need something to keep your drink or food warm, the candle lantern will do an excellent job of that.
You could also melt some snow if you needed some water to make your coffee or for food.
UCO Candle Lantern Tent Heater
I decided to put up my Kelty Salida 2 tent, check out the review for that below.
I wanted to sit in the tent with the UCO Candle Lantern to see how it does with heating up a candle. Full disclosure, I didn’t just put the candle lantern in the tent. I followed some basic principals on how to heat up a tent with a candle. I placed a tarp on top of the tent and secured it down to help keep the heat in. I actually have a full post all about heating a tent with a candle, check it out below.
I’m not going to spend a ton of time going over all that, if your interested definitely check out the post. However, I think the most effective thing I did was put the tarp on top of the tent. I jumped in the tent and lit the UCO Candle Lantern. After just about 5 minutes I could feel a significant jump in heat. The tent was definitely keeping the heat in with the tarp on top. Between myself (putting out heat) and the candle lantern, the temperature jumped in the tent by about 6 degrees.
Not only can you warm your hands with the candle lantern but if you prep your tent correctly, you can actually increase the temperature inside the tent. I was really excited about these results as I didn’t expect the candle lantern to actually increase the temperature inside the tent. I figured I could warm my hands but didn’t expect it to increase the temp.
Light The Way
The light the UCO Candle Lantern produced was definitely the area the lantern shined the most (pun intended). During the UCO Candle Lantern review my favorite time using it was in the dark. The light it produced to illuminate our camping area was just fantastic. It seems to produce the perfect balance of light.
When I’m camping at night, I really don’t like turning on the bright LED lights. It’s always a shock and hurts my eyes. You never get that feeling with the UCO Candle Lantern. We had enough light to play cards and other board games, I could see everyone’s face but I never had to squint or shield the light.
It also produces enough light to see where your walking and when you are getting close to something. If you are in need of large light source you may be better off firing up the LED or propane lantern. Maybe if your cooking or doing dishes or getting the beds ready. If you just need some light to illuminate your camp area for social purposes, nothing provides better atmosphere.
I can guarantee you that people will want to talk about your little UCO Candlelier Deluxe candle lantern. It will be a great talking piece and everyone will want to shut off the harsh light sources.
Final Thoughts
I don’t want you to get the UCO Candle Lantern with functionality in mind. It’s important that you understand that the functionality is not where it shines. Where it stands out is the atmosphere it will provide for your camping experience. It does have some great features and will help you keep warm and heat up some water but mostly you are getting it to provide an experience.
I really hope this UCO Candle Lantern review of the Deluxe Candlelier has helped you decide if it’s right for you. I love my candle lantern and it’s quickly becoming one of my favorite additions to my camping equipment. It’s far from the most necessary but important to keep the atmosphere.
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