What Wattage Should I Vape At?
Wattage has a big part to play in vaping. Responsible for changing the temperature you vape at, wattage has the power to alter everything including the style, flavour and throat hit of your vape.
How wattage affects your vape
The power output of your e-cigarette is measured in wattage. Many e-cigs have features allowing vapers to adjust their vaping wattage. Altering the wattage of your e-cig adjusts the temperature produced by your coil as your e-liquid is heated. In doing so, your e-cigarette can change the flavour, vapour and throat hit you experience.
What wattage should you use
There is a big difference between using a high or low wattage and the best wattage for vaping depends on several factors including:
The capabilities of your vaping device
There are many electronic cigarettes available to buy, all with different functions and capabilities. These include:
Low-powered vape kits
E-cigarettes like cig-a-like vape kits and pen-style e-cigs are designed to closely mimic smoking and often have a pre-set wattage of between 7 and 15W. This is significantly lower than more powerful vape kits with an average range of 50-200W, especially when considering that beginner-friendly devices are often missing the feature to change your wattage.
While vape kits with low, pre-set wattages are perfectly suited to both beginners and convenience-seekers, their lack of personalisation is unsuitable for vapers who prefer to fine-tune their vaping experience.
Mid-range e-cigarettes
Intermediate vapers often opt for a higher wattage range with customisable options. Refillable pod and pod mod devices with a range of 40-50W offer a little more personalisation that allows vapers to experience the complex notes within a flavour and to experiment with dense vapour.
High-powered e-cigs
Advanced vapers, on the other hand, often opt for the highest wattage range available to them. Box mods and mech mods with greater customisation allow vapers to fine-tune their vape to enhance flavours, alter vapour density and adjust throat hit. Because of the amount of customisation involved, however, high-powered advanced vape kits are complex and therefore more popular with vapers who have decreased their nicotine intake over time and wish to try new vaping styles and new tricks.
Your preferred vaping style
Vapers most commonly opt for one of two vaping styles: mouth-to-lung and direct-to-lung. More info on the different vaping styles here. Your coil is one of the most important components of vaping style and should be chosen to suit your preferred intake method.
The electrical power of a coil is measured in ohms. The higher the level of ohms, the higher the resistance and the lower the number of amps that can pass through. The lower the ohms, the lower the resistance and the higher the number of amps that can pass through. These settings translate into different inhalation methods:
Mouth-To-Lung
As a general rule of thumb, those who opt for a mouth-to-lung vaping method should opt for higher resistance coils of 1.0ohm and above. This includes 1.0ohm, 1.4ohm, 1.6ohm, 1.8ohm and 2.0ohm. Although every coil is different, the ideal wattage for this resistance level is between 7 and 20W.
The benefits of using a low wattage with a high resistance coil include:
- Cooler vapour – less wattage equals less heat, making menthol flavours cooler than ever.
- Discretion – with less vapour production, mouth-to-lung vaping is the more discreet option.
- Efficient – higher resistance coils require less power and help your battery last longer.
Direct-To-Lung
Typically, direct-to-lung vapers are best served by lower resistance coils of 1.0ohm or less, hence the nickname of sub-ohm vaping. This includes 0.8ohm, 0.6ohm, 0.6ohm, 0.2ohm and 0.15ohm. The ideal wattage for this resistance level is between a minimum of 40W although those seeking the most vapour can adjust their wattage anywhere up to (and sometimes beyond!) 200W.
The benefits of using a higher wattage with low resistance coils include:
- Warmer vapour – high wattage means more heat, making flavours more prominent.
- Increased vapour – more wattage means more vapour which is ideal for vape tricks.
The best wattage for vaping
The best wattage for vaping depends entirely on your vaping preferences. For mouth-to-lung vaping, pair high-resistance coils with a wattage of 7-20W. For direct-to-lung inhaling, pair low-resistance coils with a wattage of 40W or more.
A 0.15ohm coil is considered one of the lowest resistance coils available and is best suited to high-powered devices with a wattage of 100W+.
A 0.2ohm coil is a low-resistance coil that is best suited to high-powered devices with a wattage of 70-80W.
A 0.3ohm coil is a low-resistance coil that is best suited to high-powered devices with a wattage of 50-60W.
A 0.4ohm coil is a low-resistance coil that is best suited to high-powered devices with a wattage of 40-60W+.
A 0.6ohm coil is a low-resistance coil that is best suited to high-powered devices with a wattage of 40W+.
A 0.8ohm coil is a low-resistance coil that is best suited to high-powered devices with a wattage of 40W+.
A 1.4ohm coil is a high-resistance coil that produces a mouth-to-lung vape when paired with low wattages of around 12W.
Getting started
Vape kits with a pre-set wattage like cig-a-likes and pod vapes are designed to eliminate the wattage selection process, giving you the perfect amount of flavour, vapour and throat hit for every vape. Although fixed wattage kits don’t allow for much personalisation, they’re a great place to get started with a hands-off vaping experience.
If you’re ready to progress to a high-powered device, start with low wattage and work your way up until you find the ideal combination of vapour, flavour and throat hit for you.
