I love the smell of candles, but I hate the anxiety that comes with an open flame. There were many times when I had to turn around after leaving to see if I had blown out the candle. That’s why the SwitchBot Candle Warmer Lamp caught my eye. It promises all the ambiance and scent of a candle without the risk of setting the house on fire. Best of all, it supports Matter out of the box, making it a native resident of your HomeKit/Apple Home environment.
HomeKit Weekly is a series focused on smart home gadgets, automation tips and tricks, and everything related to Apple’s smart home framework.
What is candle warmth?
If you’ve never used a warm candle before, the concept is simple. Instead of lighting a wick, you place your favorite jar candle under a fixed halogen lamp. The heat from the lamp melts the wax from top to bottom, releasing the scent without smoke or a live flame.
Because there is no flame, the candle actually lasts a long time. You don’t burn the wax; you just heat it up to release the fragrance. When the smell finally disappears after a few weeks, you pour on a top layer of wax and start burning again.
The issue with Wi-Fi
The big news here for HomeKit users is communication. Unlike other SwitchBot gear that requires a Hub 2 to connect to the Apple ecosystem, the Candle Warmer Lamp supports Matter over Wi-Fi. The Wi-Fi feature means you can add it directly to the Home app without needing a second bridge. When it’s on HomeKit, it appears as a standard dim light. This allows for some nice automations:
- Hello: Turn on the lamp at 10% brightness to make the kitchen smell good first thing in the morning. You can set it to close right before you go to work.
- Coming Home: As you return home from work, you can time the Switchbot Candle Warmer to turn on so that you always enter a fragrant home.
The hardware is surprisingly good for the price point. It features a weighted base for easy paddling protection, and the arm is made of matte steel alloy. Fits candles up to 3.74 inches wide and 5.5 inches tall, covering standard candles from most supermarkets. It also has a portable controller on the cable, which allows you to adjust it manually. However, once I set it up in HomeKit, I never touched the physical button again.
Dip into the Switchbot Candle Warmer
This is one of those smart home products that solves a real problem. Eliminates the risk of open flames while maintaining the benefits of a candle. The fact that it integrates seamlessly into HomeKit with Matter makes it a no-brainer for anyone already in the Apple ecosystem.
You can buy the SwitchBot Candle Warmer Lamp directly The SwitchBot or from Amazon.
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