One of my staff this week asked me about buying beeswax candles for her oil burner. This started quite the discussion about the best way to diffuse essential oils. At the end of the conversation, she ended up buying an ultrasonic vaporiser instead. This was also confirmed to be the best solution when I actually used an oil burner and a tealight candle in the Shop Naturally office today.

Since this is a question that does pop up from time to time, I thought I'd share the information with everyone so you can choose what's right for you.

While I totally adore beeswax candles, and I love burning them as a candle, they are not my preference for diffusing essential oils, an ultrasonic vaporiser is instead. Here's my main reasons.

Long term budget savings | Ultrasonic Vaporiser WINS

An ultrasonic vaporiser only ever has to be bought once. We have a variety on offer, up to $100 in cost, but it's a one off expense. Our Queen B tealight candles have a burn cost of 31c per hour. Once you light one, which runs for 8-9 hours, there's only so many times you can effectively put one out and re-light it again. At 322 hours, for a $100 unit, you break even, which is 40 days at 8 hours a day. After that, the candles cost you more.

Timed diffusing | Ultrasonic Vaporiser WINS

This was the winner for my staff member, being able to time your diffusing. She wanted to diffuse Lavender for 30 minutes before bedtime. The Mt Retour Mini Diffuser has timed intervals of 30, 60, 120 & 180 minutes. It turns itself off after this period. Other brands in store can simply be controlled by how much liquid you put in them. Once the liquid runs out, they turn themselves off.

Safety | Ultrasonic Vaporiser WINS

One of the highest causes of house fires is candles being knocked over. When you're wanting to diffuse oils in a bedroom, and in particular, in a child's room overnight, naked flames need to be monitored very carefully. While you can responsibly burn candles in the right glass containers, there's always a small risk. Using an electronic vaporiser removes this risk.

Speed of response | Ultrasonic Vaporiser WINS

Today, I needed to diffuse some lemon oil in our office to mask a smell coming from outside. All I had was an oil burner and a tealight candle, so I used those and carefully placed my oil burner away from anything flammable. It took at least 15-20 minutes before I noticed the lemon scent in the air. With an electronic ultrasonic vaporiser, it's virtually instant. As a result, we have decided to have a working ultrasonic vaporiser in our showroom and will be diffusing a range of doTERRA essential oils. Because we understand some customers have sensitivities, we will be limiting our diffusing to oils that do not generally cause issues for people, predominantly citrus oils and citrus blends including the doTERRA Citrus Bliss.

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Quick Safety Tip - when handling essential oils, it's a good idea to keep some kind of oil around, whether it's coconut oil or just something that you cook with. If you spill essential oil on your hands while you're using them, immediately rub on on to the affected area to dilute it. Do NOT wash it off with water.