The Ultimate Vaping Guide To Voltage, Watts & Ohms

Wonder what the ‘i’ in Apple devices such as the iPhone and iPod stands for? We all thought that it means ‘internet’ but the late Steve Jobs gave a more complicated answer.

But for e-cigs, there’s no confusion about what the ‘e’ stands for. The ‘e’, of course, means electronic.

And as an electronic device, e-cigs are under the same laws of physics as other electrical systems. This means that you’ll encounter terms such as vaping voltage, watts, and ohms.

These are familiar words that you may have forgotten about from physics class. We know that they can be quite confusing, so we’re gonna break down these commonly used words.

Charge up your vaping knowledge and read on.

Oh My, Ohms?

The ohm is the unit measurement for resistance. Resistance is important in electrical systems because it limits the flow of electricity. The flow of electricity is known as the current and is measured in amps.

Think of ohms as the floodgate to a dam. If closed (maximum resistance), water will not flow through. But as you open it, the resistance lowers, allowing water to pass.

Therefore, we can say that the resistance has an inverse relationship with the flow. The lower the resistance, the higher the flow.

We see this in sub-ohm vaping where the resistance is less than 1 ohm. As a result, you get to experience more vapor and greater throat hit. But this comes at the expense of more energy used, which means that your battery will get drained more quickly.

However, resistance isn’t the only thing that determines the strength of the flow. For fluid systems, the other factor is pressure, such as water pressure or blood pressure in hemodynamics. In e-cigs, this ‘pressure’ is represented by the …

Vaping Voltage

The voltage is the driving force that propels electricity through the device. In contrast to ohms, the voltage has a direct relationship with the current.

The relationship among current, voltage and resistance is neatly summarized by Ohm’s law:

I = V/R

where 'I' represents the electric current, 'V' is voltage, and 'R' means resistance.

How do we increase voltage and thereby increase the flow of electricity? In e-cigs and vape kits with variable voltage, this is accomplished with a simple push of the up button. In essence, you are compelling the battery to supply more power to your device.

What About Watts?

The watt or wattage is the power output of any electronic equipment. It is similar to the horsepower of car engines. In fact, it was James Watts who coined the term horsepower.

The watt is basically the end result of how the current, voltage, and resistance interact with each other. It will determine how much energy is transferred to your coils to heat up the juice.

This means that the watt is responsible for the temperature, amount of vapor released, and the throat hit.

You’ll sometimes hear about vape kits with variable wattage. The difference between variable wattage and variable voltage is a bit like the settings of your blender. You can set the blender to different speeds such as low, medium, or fast. This is the same as increasing the voltage of your vape kit.

Your blender may also have settings such as chop, stir, or liquefy. In this case, the blender will automatically adjust the speed of the blade to match your desired outcome. In this case, the blender acts more like a variable wattage type.

Zap Your Confusion

We hope that after reading this guide, you’re not left scratching your head when you hear the words vaping voltage, watts, or ohms. Knowing these basic terminologies should help you a lot when shopping for your ideal vape kit.

To further your knowledge, check out this article on the different parts of a vaping device.