How Does Wattage Affect Your Vape? Beginners Guide to Wattage
Many vape devices available on the market allow you to adjust the wattage so that it suits your personal preferences. However, some users, especially those new to vaping, might not fully realise what the wattage affects and what they should do to find their ideal settings.
If you are using a vape mod – a “modified” version of a regular vape pen device, you should know that wattage plays a key role in your whole vaping experience. The main issue is that there is no one-size-fits-all wattage level, and what works for one person might be a complete miss when it comes to someone else, and so on. There are several points to consider before you try to adjust anything. No need to worry, though – mod vapers vary in factors like shape, size, or material that they’re made of, but they all have shared settings, so it’s not that complicated. Additionally, it’s worth familiarising yourself with the worldwide regulation of the vaping industry before you get on your journey with vaping.
This article will take you through everything that a beginner needs to know about the effects of wattage on their vape and how it can be changed to tailor the whole experience.
What Is Wattage?
Wattage is the estimated amount of power used by your vaping device. When you adjust it, you simultaneously customise the temperature that the coil produces to heat the e-liquid. This process allows you to get a vaping experience that perfectly matches your preferences.
It’s essential to notice that customised temperature alters the vape’s flavour, throat hit, and cloud thickness – these variables need to be balanced to achieve a satisfying experience. More watts usually mean more heat, and while it won’t be true for all, some e-liquids flavours, such as coffee, chocolate, or tobacco taste better the hotter they get. On the other hand, fruity and candy flavours usually require less heat.
How Much Wattage to Vape?
There’s no one golden rule, and figuring out the ideal wattage is a process of trial and error. However, there are a few factors that are worth taking into account.
More or Less Vapour
If you prefer a warmer and thicker vapour, you should turn the wattage up. Increased power produces warmer, larger clouds of vapour, that are perfect for tricks enthusiasts – you can try making some smoke rings or vape tornadoes.
Check your vape device to find the highest watt range that’s recommended. This information is usually somewhere on the coil. It’s crucial that you do this because if you go above the recommended wattage, you risk burning the coil that will have to be replaced. Keep in mind that more e-liquid is needed to create thick vapour. By vaping at approximately 50 watts, you’ll use around 10 millilitres of your liquid a day. If you don’t care about warm and thick vapour and want to be more cost-effective, keep your wattage at a lower level.
What is more, fans of long and deep inhales might notice that they’re not able to reach higher wattage without tasting burnt aroma. The reason behind this is that the coil will probably struggle with being fired at a high wattage for a longer time. To fix this, turn the wattage down.
Battery Life
It’s important to notice that if you frequently run your coil at a higher wattage, you will simultaneously shorten the vape battery’s lifespan, as the mod will have to pull extra power to keep up with the high settings.
For example, using a battery with a 2000 mAh capacity at around 15 watts should get you a whole day’s use, while the same battery working on wattage turned up to 40 watts will run out of power in a few hours. To avoid unexpected interruptions in vaping, it’s good to invest in some spare vape batteries and always keep them on hand.
Airflow
One of the greatest things about vaping is the fact that it’s an almost entirely customisable experience. Another factor that falls into this category is airflow. Regular or electronic cigarettes, for example, have limited airflow. Vape allows you to adjust it to your liking, which can significantly improve your overall experience. The airflow role’s very straightforward but crucial to make the vape work as it should, as it allows air to flow from the coil to your mouth freely. In most devices, the adjustment ring is located on the tank, and it gives you the possibility to manually change the airflow to high or low.
High airflow means cooler vape and smoother cloud with less vapour. That’s because when you fire your device, the juice immediately vaporises on the coil, and then when the air makes contact with the vapour, it cools down the cloud temperature before you inhale. Don’t forget that by cooling it, you lose some flavour. However, higher airflow can decrease the amount of juice needed, as, in this process, the majority of it remains on the coil.
On the other hand, using less airflow will give you more flavour. When less air encounters the coil, the vapour is forced out much quicker, and as a result, the flavour comes out thicker and fuller.
The great thing about customising the airflow is that you can change it every day. It’s also possible to keep the airflow in the middle of the spectrum – this way, you can experience the benefits of both high and low airflows.
In Conclusion
If you’re new to the world of variable vaping devices, at first, it may be confusing to know what wattage to start on. The great thing is that every coil will have a recommended wattage range – you can usually find it on the packaging, on the coil, or the purchase website. If you still happen to find yourself unsure of what to do, don’t hesitate to get in touch with a professional at a vape store or consider using a vape wattage calculator.