What’s the Best Wattage for Vaping? What Wattage Should I Vape At?
What’s the ideal wattage for vaping e-liquid? If you ask most vaping experts that question, you’re likely to get an answer along the lines of “whatever wattage you want” or “let your palate tell you.” That’s perfectly fine, but what if your vaping experience isn’t everything you expect it to be? What if you taste a burned flavour when vaping, or what if your coils seem to burn out too quickly? Is it possible that you’re vaping at the wrong wattage?
As you begin to tweak various aspects of your vaping setup, you’ll quickly learn that there is no single ideal vaping wattage for everyone. In fact, there isn’t even a single best wattage for a given vape mod, tank, coil or e-liquid. There are actually several things that are worth considering as you decide on the best vaping wattage for your particular situation.
Let’s dig in and discover the best vaping wattage for you.
Find Your Coil’s Suggested Wattage Range
Manufacturers of vaping products always test their coils to determine their ideal vaping wattages, and you can always see a coil’s suggested wattage range by reading the etching on the side of the coil. When you examine the etching, you’ll see the coil’s suggested wattage range along with its approximate resistance. Although it’s possible to use a coil outside its suggested wattage range, it’s a good idea to use the manufacturer’s suggestion as a starting point.
Adjust Your Wattage to Compensate for Your Puff Length
One thing to keep in mind when choosing your best vaping wattage is that the manufacturers of vaping hardware typically use automatic puff machines to determine their coils’ suggested wattage ranges. An automatic puff machine for vaping will typically use a puff duration of about two seconds. If you usually vape for about two seconds per puff, you’ll probably experience no problems if you set your device to work anywhere within your coil’s suggested wattage range.
Let’s suppose, though, that you prefer your vapour a bit on the warmer side. Are you safe to push your wattage a bit past your coil’s suggested range? If your average puff duration is less than two seconds, the answer to that question is most likely “yes.” If you experience a burning sensation at the end of a puff, though, you’ve most likely gone too far and should lower your wattage to avoid burning your coil’s wick.
On the other hand, you may be the type of vaper who prefers a more leisurely vaping experience. Maybe you like to take longer and deeper puffs, pausing for just a moment before exhaling some enormous clouds. If your puffs are typically longer than two seconds, you’re probably going to want to keep your device near the bottom of – or maybe even below – your coil’s suggested wattage range.
Remember That No Two Coils Are Exactly Alike
An important thing to remember when configuring your vaping device is that no two coils will have exactly the same electrical resistance. A coil’s actual resistance shouldn’t differ from the stated resistance by more than about 10 percent, but that’s a significant amount when you consider the extremely low resistance of today’s sub-ohm coils. The slight variation in resistance is the reason why you’ll sometimes install a new coil and find that the vapour is a little warmer or cooler than it was with the previous coil.
If your device tells you that the resistance of a coil differs significantly from the stated resistance – a coil that should have a resistance of 0.25 ohm has an actual resistance of 0.10 ohm, for example – the coil may have a problem. You should remove and reinstall the coil. If the coil’s resistance is still wrong, you should discard the coil for safety. A small variation is completely normal, though, and you can adjust your device’s wattage to compensate for it.
Look Out for Throat Irritation
The easiest way to know that your vaping wattage might be too high is because your coils are burning out too quickly. By the time a coil is burned out, though, it’s already too late to save the coil. Wouldn’t it be great if there was some kind of an early warning system that would kick in when you push the wattage a bit too far?
As a matter of fact, there is – it’s your throat!
Here’s what happens if you’re vaping at too high a wattage. When you press your mod’s fire button, your coil will vaporise all of the e-liquid held in the wick. As that happens, the wick will absorb more e-liquid from the tank’s reservoir – but if your wattage setting is too high, the coil will vaporise the juice more quickly than the wick can bring more e-liquid in. At the end of your puff, the wick will be dry. In that brief instant, the coil will begin to glow and will reach a much higher temperature than normal.
You won’t be able to see that, of course, but you’ll feel it in your throat. If you feel throat irritation at the end of your puffs, you should lower your wattage. The throat irritation isn’t just unpleasant – it’s also a sign that your coil’s wick is burning.
The Best Vaping Wattage May Vary With Your E-Liquid
The final thing you should remember when choosing your ideal vaping wattage is that the best setting for your device may vary depending on the e-liquid you’re using. Let’s suppose, for instance, that you’re using an e-liquid with a flavour on the milder end of the spectrum – vanilla, for example. In that case, you might like to vape at a slightly higher wattage to make the flavour as bold as it can be.
On the other hand, there are some flavours that can become overbearing at higher wattages. Some people find that to be the case with menthol e-liquids; if an e-liquid has a very high amount of menthol in it, you may find that it overpowering at higher wattages. If that’s how you feel about menthol vape juices, you may prefer to use a lower wattage when vaping those e-liquids.