Is Hot Waxing Your Chain Worth It for Mountain Bikes?

With the west on fire, it's too smoky outside to safely ride, so I'm going down the hot wax rabbit hole. OCD roadies love hot wax, but they can be an odd bunch that I don't always understand. But maybe they're onto something.

I've been using Squirt wax lube for a number of years, and absolutely love how clean and effective it is compared to oil-based lubes. If Squirt works so well, I need to find out if hot wax is even better. Plus, I'm stuck indoors bored out of my mind this weekend.

The downside of hot wax is the setup time and fuss. But I already love drip-on wax, and I should really do all this prep even for that, it only really works if you fully degrease your new chain.

I'm using food-grade paraffin from the hardware store and a cheapo slow cooker off of Amazon. Nothing fancy, no PTFE (Teflon), my goal isn't maximum efficiency, it's just long-lasting lube that doesn't make a mess and keeps my drivetrain running. 

I'll report back in a little while on a verdict on whether it's worth it.