The bulb in your Scentsy Warmer has gone, and you're standing in the kitchen holding a dead globe with no idea which Scentsy replacement bulb you actually need. Fifteen watt? Twenty-five? Does it actually matter?
It does matter - and the good news is that your warmer will tell you exactly what it needs. Here's how to find the answer, how to change the bulb, and where to get the right one.
If you've still got the bulb that's gone, the answer is already in your hand. The wattage is printed in small text on the silver metal screw base - the threaded part that goes into the socket, rather than the glass. Turn it towards the light and you'll find it.
Worth saying plainly, because it sends people on a wild goose chase: there's no wattage sticker on the warmer itself. Don't bother turning it upside down looking for one.
If the old bulb is long gone, or the printing on it has worn away, you can find the answer here instead. Every warmer page on this site has a Bulb Type line in the product details, and it links straight through to the matching replacement pack. No guessing, no cross-referencing - the warmer's page tells you the wattage and hands you the right bulb.
That said, it helps to know roughly what you're looking for.
Mini Warmers almost always take a 15W bulb. A small number take a 10W bulb instead, so it's worth checking rather than assuming.
Standard Warmers are most commonly 25W, with a good number taking 20W. A few take 15W, and a handful of older designs use a 40W Edison-style bulb with the exposed filament.
Element Warmers don't take a bulb at all. More on those in a moment.
None of that replaces checking your own bulb or your warmer's product page. Two warmers that look near enough to identical can take different bulbs, so check yours rather than trusting a family resemblance.
This one catches people out, so it's worth saying plainly: Element Warmers warm your wax with a heating element rather than a light bulb. There's no globe inside, nothing to unscrew, and nothing to buy when the fragrance fades.
You'll see this on the product pages too - an Element Warmer's Bulb Type simply reads N/A. If your warmer has never glowed, that's not a fault. It was never meant to.
So if you've been searching for a replacement bulb for an Element Warmer, the honest answer is that there isn't one, and you don't need one.
The obvious sign is the one you'd expect - you switch the warmer on and nothing lights up.
The less obvious sign is the wax. On a Standard or Mini Warmer, the bulb is the heat source as well as the light, so a bulb that's gone means no melting and no fragrance either. If your warmer has stopped scenting the room and the dish is staying cold, the bulb is the first thing to check.
Before you replace anything, rule out the boring explanations: is it switched on at the wall, is the power point working, is the plug all the way in? I have absolutely wasted a bulb on a switched-off power point, and I'd rather you didn't.
It takes a couple of minutes.
1. Switch off at the wall and unplug the warmer.
2. Let it cool down completely. The dish and the bulb both get warm in use, so give it twenty minutes rather than rushing it.
3. Lift the dish off the top.
4. Unscrew the old bulb anticlockwise.
5. Screw the new one in clockwise - firm, but don't force it.
6. Put the dish back, plug in, switch on.
One thing worth being firm about: fit the wattage your warmer was designed for. Going up a size doesn't give you more fragrance, it just runs the fitting hotter than it was built for. Scentsy wax is designed to melt at a gentle temperature, and the matched bulb is what delivers it.
Alongside the standard clear bulbs there's a coloured range - blue, green, orange, purple, red and pink - available in 15W, 20W and 25W.
They're a genuinely nice way to change the mood of a room without changing the warmer, and the wattage rule is exactly the same. Match the wattage your warmer takes and pick whichever colour you fancy.
The clear bulbs come in three-packs, which is the sensible way to buy them - one for the warmer, two in the drawer for the next time.
Have a browse through Bulbs & Accessories for the full range, including every wattage and every colour. Replacement dishes and mini warmer bases live there too, so if something other than the bulb has given out, that's the place to look.
And if you'd rather never think about it again, light bulbs are one of the consumables you can add to a Scentsy Club subscription, so a fresh pack simply turns up.
Not sure which warmer you've got, or shopping for a new one? The complete guide to Scentsy Warmers walks through the differences, and the whole Warmers & Wax range is here whenever you need it.
Australia support: support.au@scentsy.com
NZ support: support.nz@scentsy.com
