A smart candle? Really?

If you thought that the internet of things market was already tapped for innovative ways to control lighting from your smartphone, think again. LuDela has just unveiled its smart candle, with a real flame, that you can control from your handset.

The LuDela candle’s exterior won’t melt or burn out, but it does features changeable scents via its real wax cartridges and a selection of body styles, so you won’t get bored of it. There’s also an auto-extinguish safety sensor that will prevent your house from catching fire should the candle fall over. Better yet, you will only need to recharge the batteries every 5 to 6 months to use the Bluetooth connectivity and smart features.

As for home automation controls, the company dubs its smart Bluetooth technology Wi-Fire, pun almost certainly intended. Users can adjust the luminosity of or extinguish multiple candles at once through a dedicated smartphone app. The software also comes bundled with some pre-built settings to help you capture the perfect mood for dinner and what have you.

For a candle, all of that fancy IoT technology makes it rather pricey. The LuDela is available to pre-order at a cost of $99, which is $50 less expensive than the $149 price tag that it will carry once it begins shipping in early 2017. Each paraffin-free soy-beeswax refill cartridge will also cost a further $7.99 for a 30-hour burn. That’s a fair bit more expensive than powering a LED for the same period, but I guess that’s not the point.

If you’re sold on the idea, you can pre-order the LuDela Smart Candle at this temporarily discounted price from the company’s official website. Any takers?