Self-Destructo Candle, shines with your choice of natural or artificial light

Oh LEDs, is there anything you can't do? We've seen you in jellyfish, dot-matrix display, mood detector, Wii GiftCard, and connected with all sorts of other crazy hacks. However, we've never seen you combined with something as low-tech, as say, fire. Elsewheres, a Brooklyn-based online retailer of "independent art & design" is now selling a $40 LED candle, called the Self-Destructo Candle. Yep, it's a small votive candle with an LED bulb and a battery, so when you decide you don't want that artificial light anymore, you can flip it over to light the wick for a completely self-destructing natural light source. We're not sure how eco-friendly it is to cover small amounts of electronics with melted wax, basically making them unusable (and probably un-recyclable) -- but hey, it's a cute idea.

[Via Inhabitat]

[Sudi @ Dec 8th 2006 2:41AM]

um.. thats all we needed

[Paul @ Dec 8th 2006 2:44AM]

There are probably around 4 reasons that people burn candles.
1) Light (obvious)
2) Smell (scented candles)
3) Look (romantic isn't it)
4) Heat (if you're really poor?)

This abomination only fulfills one of these reasons.
I doubt it will be a very popular item.

[Mike D @ Dec 8th 2006 4:18AM]

I have some of these they look a lot better when the light is down in the middle of the wax so that it looks like a high walled candle

[Mike D @ Dec 8th 2006 4:21AM]

also I don't know how un-green this would be since it last longer then a normal candle and those who just want the mood lighting would go through a lot less

[raz @ Dec 8th 2006 5:13AM]

But where's the fun? No slow burn candle, no flicker of flame across your walls, and so not sexy - far too geeky to be sexy.

And no good after an EMP attack. Got to think of these things....

[Adam B. @ Dec 8th 2006 8:03AM]

Thinkgeek has had something similar to these for awhile now. They come in 4-6 inch varieties. Sure, they don't have the real wick on the bottom, but they can last for 300 hrs on 2 AA batteries.

[Scott Culp @ Dec 8th 2006 8:07AM]

Not to mention the possibility of toasting the battery that would be in this thing. Could be quite dangerous!!

[snowglyder @ Dec 8th 2006 10:00AM]

So you're saying once you switch to the wick, there's no going back. Unless the walls aren't wax, you won't be able to flip it back over.

[Wolfman @ Dec 8th 2006 10:28AM]

You can get LED Candles at Micheal's Arts & Crafts. six to a pack, includes batteries (LR44s), flicker like a candle, (it even looks like a flame) tiny votive size for about $10 - $12. And no fire hazard. Want the "Melted-down" look? Wrape a small piece of paper around it.

[gxti @ Dec 8th 2006 12:46PM]

A shop near me has a similar product, but you actually use both the LED and candle simultaneously. It rotates colors, too. (more decorative than illuminative)