Eternal flames

Deepa Bharath

This is a story of three friends who started off with copies of

“Electrical Engineering for Dummies” and ended up with a pretty cool

invention.

Two words: Electric candles.

The outer shell is wax as with regular candles, but instead of a

flame burns a tiny 3-watt bulb. And yes, it will flicker and emit a

vanilla, cucumber, fruity or floral fragrance, too.

All that is made possible by a sophisticated, inconspicuous keypad

at the bottom of the candle that lets you turn it on or off, control

the flicker or set the “flame” to an outdoor or indoor mode, says

Bill Johns, who with friends Ryan Eberle and Alex Connelly started

his Costa Mesa-based business, Great Ideas, about six months ago.

It all started when they set out to create a candle that wouldn’t

be a fire hazard, Johns said.

“We’ve heard of, or read about all the tragic fires caused because

of fires,” he said.

The three local entrepreneurs still make between 500 and 1,000

candles a month by hand, even as the demand for them is consistently

increasing.

“One candle could take us 20 minutes or up to an hour to make,”

Eberle said.

The trio starts by buying wax blanks and inserting the

electronics. The kind of circuitry depends on the kind of candle

they’re making.

None of them have an engineering background. Johns said they came

up with the product with a little help from their friends.

The candles come in three different varieties: a night light

candle that is activated by a photo cell, a rechargeable model and a

multi-light system that can be installed and programmed to go on and

off. The candles are priced between $24.95 and $39.95 and come in a

range of sizes, colors and fragrances. Custom candles could cost a

lot more.

The business has not gone retail and will probably stay that way,

Johns said.

“We’re supplying to retailers right now and doing sales online,”

he said.

For a young business, they have an impressive list of clients --

Josh Slocum’s restaurant in Mariner’s Mile, Studio 54, Newport Yacht

Charters and several local retailers, Johns says.

“We think we have a great thing going here,” Eberle said.