I really much prefer real! I agree, you have to avoid obvious fire risks and battery operated are best if kids or pets can get at the candle or if someone has dementia or memory issues...

I have a couple of battery operated candles that I have on timers at the holiday time up high where I wouldn't want to climb and light real candles and have new fake battery operated 'candles' for lots of our windows for this Christmas, but other than those, all the candles in our house are real... I don't light them every day or even every week, but I do love real fire and love watching real fire when candles and fireplaces are lit-- much prettier than fake!

I couldn't imagine using fire for real light- i love electricity (!!)- but for decorative purposes, I would rather just have no/unlit candles than fake candles.....

Fake. I'm kind of pyro-phobic.

I prefer real by a mile but in some cases I go with fake. At our lakehouse I will not light real candles. Yes, there's plenty of water nearby, but no fire dept for miles & miles. Not worth the risk for me up there. It's also why we went with a gas-fueled parlor stove instead of a real wood burning fireplace.

I often display real candles on our home fireplace mantel, but I don't burn them there now that my walls and ceiling have been repainted. Real ones, even good ones, left sooty residue in the past. I have some wax battery-powered pillars that I sometimes use there.

fake--after fire accident in home. But I will burn a real one if I will be watching. Fire hazard aside, the main problem is storage. I love those scenes where they have hundreds of candles burning/glowing in a bathroom/LR/etc. But what to do and where to store them afterwards? Have you ever had a mess of discolored/deformed candles in a box or a drawer? that is truly my biggest deterrent

Combination. Real on the dining tables and sturdy buffet. Real if it's in a hurricane or other surround and fairly open above. But I also like battery-operated on a bookshelf and on the mantle. I have some square vases filled with those glass stones, and a votive in a glass holder in the middle. I have them on bookshelves or lower shelves of the end tables and the flickering glow is nice.

Same as Butternut.

Mostly fake because of 4 roaming and jumping cats that worry me. I will use real for holiday meals on the table and a glass jar candle occasionally. Yesterday one of the maniacs got the battery operated tea light out of a pumpkin and started toying with it. I'd like to think it wouldn't happen with a flame but with him who knows!

Combo. What bothers me about battery candles is that most of them have orange flames. I just returned 6 to HomeGoods because flame was orange.

I use the Luminara moving flame battery-operated candles and love them. Real candlelight is gorgeous, but I'm willing to make the trade-off to avoid smoke, soot and fire danger.

I prefer real, particularly on a dining table. There's just something about sitting there, long after the meal is finished, talking. And noticing how much shorter the candles have become, and how the wax has dripped down into interesting formations. I can see the practicality of the faux flame though, and have used it several times for corporate events where open flame is not allowed.

Mom pointed out to me yesterday that I had forgotten to blow out the candles on top of the corner cabinet and they had been burning for a week now.... Of course they are battery operated on timers or the house would have burnt down or the ceiling would be black

if I burn a real candle it is usually just a small one for the scent and when we are in the room for a gathering. Otherwise I love the battery ones

Real, although I might just invest in some realistic fakes if I can find them! Even at our last house that had a thatched roof - and I was somewhat paranoid about fires - we still routinely lit loads of candles about the place. I do think though that here in the UK we are behind you guys and the fake ones have yet to take off in a big way.....

Kippy, that is funny!

I had the same mindset, I liked the real candles and thought the fake ones were pretty silly. One day however a client gave me a battery operated one with a pretty exterior as a little thank you gift. I decided to use it in our little guest bathroom. I really like the light it adds to the room and unless you actually look down in it, you can't tell it's not real.

Now I have a mix of some real ones flanked by a couple of fake ones on our coffee table. My sister thought they were real and was really surprised to see they weren't.

I think there is a place for both.

I use real ones, but they're usually the Woodwick or Yankee scented candles in glass jars placed in the center of my island carefully away from all else. And I tend to 'check on it often'. I'll sometimes see a bloggers home filled with lit tea lights and pillars all over the place. It's pretty, but would make me uncomfortable.

I would like to buy a few Lumineras for the (faux) evening ambiance!

I am afraid of forgetting about real candles and leaving them burning. I only use real ones on the dining table, and when I light a jar candle, I only burn them on my range, where it seems safer and out of the way.

I use the battery operated votive candles in holiday decor. Especially after some tea light candles in mercury glass holders left heat marks on my dining table :-(

Real! And only real! I'm not about faux anything!

I adore the faux candles with timers. If I come home after dark they help light the way. I have them set to come on in the bathrooms around midnight. They are great night lights!

We bought a second home earlier this year. They previous owner apparently burned a lot of candles because the walls were very " sooty"! I do not want that mess again.

We have several of the Ikea hurricane lamps that are mostly used when the power goes out. I do love sitting in our living room while a few are lit, it's so relaxing.

I'm a faux fan!

Real candles are a no-no on cruise ships but I love the ambience of a candle on our balcony at night. The amount of light one faux candle puts out is just perfect (sigh)

Both. We love candlelight during our supper meals in the winter. The kids always ask for it because it feels so cozy. Sometimes we'll use a battery operated candle, and other times we'll use tea lights or tapers.

Every once in a while we'll light the oil lamps with hurricane glass chimneys and put them on the table. I'd love to find some that burn a little bit brighter, though. When my 2 oldest were tiny, it was fun to use the oil lamps at supper because the warm, dark coziness made them feel like it was bedtime. They got really sleepy and would ask to go to bed right after supper! : )

If I'm burning a candle for scent during the day, I tend to put it on the stove top where I feel it's a little bit safer. We're already accustomed to burning hot things being there and the kids know to stay away.

Real, and electric (I have two in each dormer window that stay on 24/7).

Real ones are so warm and cozy feeling to me. But I think battery candles are a great idea, too, and will probably get a few at some point .... maybe for around the tub, after my hair caught on fire using real ones a while back.

I've never had a faux candle, but man have they gotten a toe-hold in stores. I went shopping for something simple for a casual table centerpiece yesterday and came up short.

Rant: Cost Plus, Pier 1 and Michaels have turned it over to Christmas already. I steeled myself, but it's depressing. Not that I don't celebrate Christmas, but the merchandising is just awful. And the smells. It's really hard to shop for candles without being assaulted by "fragrance."

*Only* real candles at the table. The battery operated ones are nice for ambience when you're not sitting in the room or going in/out. I don't feel good/safe about having lit candles in other rooms if they're are not self-contained in glass. I have left them lit while cleaning up from a dinner, only to come back to the table and find wax on the tabletop. I got at it quickly with a teflon spatula, no residue no scratches.

Real, but don't light them up that often. A few years ago my Mom was so excited to buy me some of the Lumenaria candles, but I couldn't keep them. Many of the fake candles are scented and I hate scented candles. The scent was so strong that we put them out in my parents' garage to air out and the whole garage was smelling! I searched for completely unscented fake candles, but did not find any.

after my hair caught on fire ...really?!? Scary.

Mustangs, yes, I bent over one, and *poof*. The smell was awful, ugh.

I haven't been able to burn scented candles for years. They choke me. Years ago, I would burn Yankee candles and I loved the scent. They must have changed the ingredients, because I got so I couldn't tolerate them. I've been using the faux candles with timers and I love them. I usually burn a few real candles at Christmas, but my sister was recently diagnosed with COPD and uses oxygen, so she can't be around real candles. I gave her a few of the faux candles with timers and she loves them.

I can't stand the scents either. I'm going to look for faux unscented.

We have faux ones in votives in the Itty Bitty Stonehouse because the kids typically use it for sleepovers.

Other than that, I only use real candles. But while I own candlesticks and candelabras, I don't use those anymore. I use either votives or pillars in lanterns, both of which feel safer as they are harder to tip. We use candles outdoors (we love our huge multiwick citronella one below) when we are sitting outside chatting or dining. We always use votives on the DR table with company, and often on sunday dinners at home. Those candles are unscented; I do not like a scent when I am eating. There is always a candle bedside, the kind with their own lids. That is the one place where I like a scent. Either Diptyque Fig or Voluspa Elysian Gardens or Linnaes Wild Fern.

At out last house, we had a screened verandah with one brick wall. I hung an iron candleabra on that wall and on summer evenings we would burn beeswax candles. That was so pretty, I really miss it!

There is always a candle bedside

You may as well smoke in bed IMHO! (yes, it's almost a phobia of mine)

Knowing first hand what happens when one smokes and uses oxygen, thank you Lucy!

A tenant lit up while using her new system The upstairs neighbors had to jump from their units and one lost everything (he had laid his father to rest the day before just to make things worse). Those fires burn at 1200 degrees I got to call the tenants daughter and wait with the tenant while the paramedics came for her Not sure she ever left the hospital and I know I will always see the image of her shape on the concrete under her sofa, carpet,pad etc from where she was sitting where she lit up

i am sorry if I shocked any of you, but if you can relate that story to a smoking oxygen user to save them I think it will be worth it

Yes, there is always a candle bedside, on my slate topped night stand in its own container. There is also a large glass lantern with candles on the mantle. Some or all are lit on occasion. We don't smoke. And we don't fall asleep with a lit candle. And we don't run with scissors. We do step on cracks.

I use and like both. Am a bit fire phobic but prefer the real flame. Friend talked me into buying a faux pillar candle with a "flame" that moves about. In a hurricane it could almost pass, and it is on a timer which is convenient, but it was too expensive to have a lot of duplicates.

For candlesticks and candelabra I use only Root brand candles, which are the least drippy and come in the yummiest colors.

Year 'round I have Thyme's Frasier Fir candles in almost every room for the scent. I LOVE that scent!

Am not in the least entranced by those photos of bathtubs ringed by candlelight. I need to see where I am stepping and what I am doing. Besides, I could not read by candlelight and IMO there is nothing more luxurious than relaxing in the bath with a good book!

My cat Penny would probably catch herself on fire if I attempted to ring the tub with candles. I have never had a cat so water-obsessed before! Wherever the water runs, she HAS to be there. She doesn't even mind one bit if she gets wet. (Might actually come in handy if she needs to have flaming fur doused!)

No scented candles - ever. Yes, they really are bad for your lungs. I also have memory problems with respect to lit candles, so I decorate with real, but do not light them (except on the dining table). When you visit my home, if unlit candles offend you, please do not light them then forget to blow them out before you leave. I guarantee I won't notice and there will be a problem. Ask me how I know.

Some pretty scary stories!

MTNRD, I love your huge multiwick citronella.

Auntjen, That is strange about your cat liking the water. Mine drink a LOT of water but you better not get any on them.

nice multiwick candle! I have never seen one with that many wicks!

many times, I have had votives or smaller pillars in lanterns/hurricanes/etc burn themselves out when they burned to their bottoms- by the end of a party... pretty safe I think!! I think most of the danger comes from animals(or kids) knocking them over or those who place candle flames by flammable things, like curtains.

forgetting to blow out a jar candle that's on your kitchen island when you went to bed would result in you waking up to a lit jar candle(or burned out jar candle) in the morning I'm pretty sure.... I would be much more nervous about tapers. I do blow out all candles before bed tho!