The bulb is normally 25 to 40 watts. Generally, it will take 45–60 minutes for the wax to warm up enough to form freely rising blobs, when operating the lamp at standard room temperature. It may take as long as 2 to 3 hours if the room is below standard room temperature.

Some brands of lava lamps require up to six hours for the lava-like blobs to form and flow properly. Even with the long warm-up time, there is a limit to how long the lamp should be operated continuously to keep it functioning as designed. Do not run the lamp for more than eight to 10 hours straight.

Do not move, shake or drop your Lava® lamp while it is warm. This may cause permanent damage, such as the lamp becoming cloudy or the lava breaking apart. If this happens, turn the lamp off immediately and let it sit undisturbed for 24 hours, then turn it back on and run as normal.

Lava lamps are not just kitschy, but it turns out they are also a crime against the environment. The lava lamp may seem small, but when you add it to all the other tiny energy thieves in your house the impact can be big.

Although their formula is a secret, manufacturers of lava lamps claim they are non-toxic. They recommend that you wrap the lamp in newspaper and throw it in the trash. Do not pour the liquid down a drain or flush it down the toilet because it contains wax which can stop up a sewer.

How Do I Fix My Lava Lamp When the Lava Doesn’t Flow?

1. Leave a new lava lamp in continual operation for at least four hours.
2. Twirl the globe gently in its base.
3. Place your lamp on a flat surface in an area that is neither too hot nor too cold.
4. Replace the bulb if you have had your lava lamp for some time and other measures do not correct your lava flow problem.

A small lava lamp (14 inches) uses 15-25 watt light bulbs depending on the model. You can use a dimmer and reduce the output by say, 20-30% and the lamp will still work. The Mathmos Neo lamp uses a 15 watt bulb on 120 or 240 volt, it uses a switching power adapter to power the halogen bulb.

LED bulbs cannot be used in lava lamps because they do not generate a lot of heat. As an energy-efficient light source, LEDs do not get hot enough to melt the wax blobs inside of lava lamps.

The light source inside a Lava® lamp can be replaced just like any other type of lamp. Even though they look different than any other type of lamp on the market, Lava® lamps do not require special bulbs. However, they do require bulbs specific to the lamp’s design.

Lift a tiny bit of the salt water into a straw, pipette or eyedropper. Carefully add it to the lava lamp, one or two drops at a time. Put the lid back on the lava lamp once the wax starts breaking off in smaller pieces the way it did when it was new, or is at least close to doing so.